Voters in Tuesday’s Democratic primary are the ones who will likely decide whether a changing of the guard at the Broward Sheriff’s Office is necessary, or a second full term for Tony is warranted. The Republican Party did not put up a candidate for November, leaving an independent candidate, BSO retiree Charles Whatley, as the lone challenger for the November general election..

The Sheriff’s Office is a far-flung enterprise that employs about 5,500 law enforcement, fire department and medical services personnel. It contracts public safety services to a dozen of Broward’s 31 towns and cities. It provides protection and security for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, county courthouses and Port Everglades, the massive seaport. It also operates a forensics unit and real-time crime center that received a $1.5 federal million grant this year.

Challenging the incumbent are:

• Steven “Steve” Geller served 28 years with Plantation Police as a patrol officer, school resource officer, major case detective and captain, supervising internal affairs and other units. After retiring in 2018, he joined the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, where he was involved in use-of-force investigations of local police officers. Geller, 55, holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in criminal justice from the State University of New York, Albany, and a master’s in public administration from Florida Atlantic University. (Geller is not to be confused with long-time County Commissioner Steve Geller, who is also a former state legislator.)
• David Howard is a West Palm Beach police retiree who most recently served as Pembroke Park’s police chief for nearly three years after starting the department from scratch. He served nearly three decades in West Palm Beach, retiring as a watch commander. A U.S. Air Force retiree with 30 years of active and reserve service, he spent a year as a first officer with Silver Airways, the South Florida-based regional airline.
• Alvin Pollock is a retired BSO colonel who served in a variety of capacities through 40 years with the office, finishing his career as third in command. He oversaw the Department of Law Enforcement and all patrol support services and was a watch commander overseeing patrol functions and operations. As courthouse commander, he was responsible for security and operations within the county’s  courthouses. He also served as a road patrol sergeant who supervised deputies, as a detective with the organized crime task force, and as a deputy sheriff.

Rollercoaster term

To say that Tony is vulnerable to a challenge is an understatement. Appointed as the county’s top law enforcement officer by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019 to replace Scott Israel, who was removed from office, the sheriff has been on a rollercoaster ride this year.

Tony has taken a variety of hits for cost overruns during the building of a new $74 million training center, complaints from client cities that they’re being charged too much, and criticism for 21 jail deaths over four years and episodes involving two pregnant women who gave birth while incarcerated.

Nearly a year ago, the agency was rocked by the crash of an aging fire rescue helicopter that took the lives of its pilot and a civilian on the ground in Pompano Beach. A public argument ensued between the sheriff and county commissioners over maintenance and the pace and funding of fleet modernization.

Earlier this summer, Tony pitched Broward County commissioners a 2024-25 fiscal year budget of $1.53 billion, a 48% increase. The request for the agency’s first billion dollar-plus budget was roundly panned by commissioners, who pointed out that such an outlay would trigger a 33% increase in property taxes.

Tony argued he needs more money to hire more people to guard and operate the county’s detention centers, patrol roads, and provide security at the burgeoning international airport from a new substation. He also argued that higher pay is needed to retain and recruit staff and keep his office competitive with other agencies that are in pursuit of the same law enforcement talent.

“Broward County’s population has increased almost 13% since 2010 and is estimated to grow to over 2 million by 2030,” he wrote in his formal budget request. “This unprecedented growth has increased the need for better tools and increased personnel to provide public safety services.”

The final word on the budget will come in September.

This past spring, an administrative law judge recommended that the sheriff should receive a written reprimand and be required to undergo ethics training after concluding that Tony violated state law by failing to disclose in 2019 that his driver’s license had previously been suspended. Judge Robert L. Kilbride also said Tony should be placed on “probationary status” for 18 months.

A hearing on the recommendations scheduled for Thursday by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, an arm of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, has been postponed, according to a public agenda reviewed by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Critiques

Given the opportunity, the three challengers served up a variety of critiques when asked in a Sun Sentinel candidates’ questionnaire to evaluate Tony’s first term. The sheriff declined to engage in the exercise.

“Sheriff Gregory Tony’s tenure as the head of the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) has been fraught with controversy and allegations of deception,” Geller said. “From the very beginning, Tony has been under intense scrutiny due to a lack of transparency. There are serious concerns about his integrity, particularly in relation to his failure to disclose critical information about his past, including an incident during his adolescence where he shot and killed a man. This information was not revealed during his appointment process, despite specific questions about any past arrests.

“What sets me apart as the best candidate is my unwavering commitment to honesty, integrity and ethical standards,” Geller said, adding that he has “maintained an impeccable record throughout my career.“ He said he never has faced termination, “been asked to resign, or faced any disciplinary action.”

Pollock, the retired colonel, took a sharp pencil to Tony’s public safety track record, which he said “has been marked by significant controversy and disapproval both organizationally and county-wide. It is not my assessment but the public’s assessment that is important.

“The public is clearly unsatisfied with public safety provided by BSO. Recently, Lauderdale Lakes and Pompano Beach called on Tony numerous times for a meeting regarding increasing violent crime,” Pollock wrote. “Tony’s response, he didn’t want to ‘over police’ the community. The public is being underserved and only gets lip service after pleading with BSO for help.”

He also took note of the deaths in Broward’s jails, as well as the women giving birth while incarcerated, which he called “completely unacceptable.”

“Public safety is compromised under Tony’s direction due to his top-heavy command structure, ineffective leadership, lack of accountability, and mishandling of BSO’s budget,” he added.

Howard said he would offer a “responsible and balanced budget proposal” for public safety needs that would not place “an undue financial burden on residents.”

He listed violent crime, gang activity, and staffing shortages in corrections as priorities, and said he’d conduct a “thorough review of existing programs and initiatives.” and develop a “multi-year” strategic spending plan.

“I would identify and eliminate any redundancies or inefficiencies to free up funds for more pressing needs,” he wrote.

Strong support for the incumbent

Despite the challengers’ efforts, Tony commands a level of support that appears to collectively outstrip the dollars and other backing garnered by his opponents.

State campaign records show Tony’s  Broward First PAC, which was formed several years ago, had collected more than $2.6 million through the most recent reporting period. It’s received contributions from large law firms, wealth managers, entrepreneurs, as well as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which gave $30,000 last spring.  The money in his campaign fund also exceeds his opponents’ funds.

Endorsements have arrived from large groups such as the Broward County AFL-CIO and The Hispanic Vote PAC. An endorsement from the Dolphin Democrats, though, went to Geller.

“To be honest with you he is very articulate; he came across with a lot of passion,” said Andy Madtes, president of the umbrella labor union group. “I don’t have any skin in the game here. He came across as someone who really wants to change the trajectory of the agency.”

Sheriff uses image of VP Harris in mailer to Democratic primary voters, funded partly by Republican DeSantis allies

Madtes said the AFL-CIO screening and endorsement process normally involves member unions casting votes. But for the sheriff’s race, Madtes said, “we deferred to the unions that work directly with the sheriff’s office because they have more of an interaction.”

“It just turned out the unions … feel he’s trying to look out for the workers,” he added. “They think he’s done a decent job.”

Tony has picked his spots when discussing issues publicly. He declined to participate in candidate interviews with the Sun Sentinel editorial board  (which endorsed Geller) as well as a forum hosted by the Broward League of Women Voters.

Besides the visit with the Broward AFL-CIO, he also spoke with Hispanic Vote.

Eric Johnson, one of Tony’s campaign consultants, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that his client prefers not to discuss flashpoints such as the budget request and the driver’s license case.

“We’ve kept the campaign very positive on his record for public safety and emergency response,” Johnson said.

“Crime is down in Broward County,” he added. “Emergency response times are faster. And ultimately next Tuesday the voters will make a determination on his record as sheriff, and we are confident he will have an overwhelming victory.”

A mailer from Tony’s PAC features a picture of him with Harris, paired with a quote from former President Barack Obama.

It’s notable for the speed. The mailer from the Broward First PAC arrived in Democratic voters’ mailboxes in Broward County on Friday, just 20 days after Harris entered the presidential race when President Joe Biden ended his campaign for a second term.

Harris has generated enormous excitement among Democratic voters — exactly the supporters he needs in the four-way primary for sheriff. (A Florida Atlantic University poll released Wednesday found that 94% of likely Democratic voters in the state said they’d vote Harris for president).

The winner of the Democratic primary for sheriff — Tony, Steve Geller, David Howard or Al Pollock — faces only nominal opposition from an independent candidate in November, and is virtually certain to win the general election.

The photo of the sheriff in uniform standing next to the vice president was taken in March, on the day Harris toured the site of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting to discuss gun-violence prevention efforts. The photo was posted months ago on Tony’s Instagram page.

The Broward First mailer is one of many about the sheriff’s race landing in Democratic voters’ mailboxes from candidates and their associated political committees.

The mailing featuring Harris is careful. It doesn’t state that there’s an endorsement of Tony from Harris or Obama.

Its theme is “change,” given that Harris would be the nation’s first woman president and the first with parents who were from Jamaica and India. It reminds voters that Tony changed the agency as “the first African American to serve as Broward County’s sheriff.”

In case all that’s too subtle, the Obama quote states, “We are the change we seek.”

There’s an ironic element to Tony’s Broward First committee paying for a mailer featuring Harris.

Some of the financial muscle behind Broward First comes from Republicans close to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is not exactly a fan of the Democratic presidential nominee. Example of a DeSantis comment: “Her tenure as VP has been disastrous.”

Tony is sheriff because of DeSantis, and the Stoneman Douglas massacre.

DeSantis appointed Tony in 2019 after he suspended previous Sheriff Scott Israel. The governor charged Israel with incompetence and neglect of duty in connection with the 2018 school massacre, in which 17 people were killed and 17 injured, and the 2017 mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, in which five people were killed and six injured.

In 2020, when Tony ran and won a full term as sheriff, his political action committee Broward First got fundraising help from big-name Republican DeSantis allies. As he geared up for the 2024 election, the Republican heavyweights close to the governor again helped raise money for Broward First.

Since Broward First geared up its fundraising for this year’s campaign in the spring of last year, it has raised $820,000. About two-thirds came during the second six months of 2023.

Voters have received some negative information about Tony as well. Democrats received an anti-Tony, pro-Geller mailer from a committee called “Honesty and Integrity for Broward Citizens.”

“Gregory Tony is a proven liar who is not fit to serve,” it declares above a picture of the incumbent.

The flip side declares that “Our current Sheriff has lied and broken the rules time and time again.”

The beneficiary of the mailer, Geller, is shown in a picture from his time in the Plantation Police Department and praised as a candidate of “Integrity. Leadership. Experience.”

And it attempts to remind voters of Tony’s links to DeSantis including a news headline when DeSantis called Tony a favorite Democrat. It came from December 2023, when DeSantis was seeking the Republican presidential nomination. Asked to name his favorite Democrat in Florida during a CNN town hall, he said Tony was one of the “good ones.”

The committee has taken in $172,000, according to reports filed with the Florida Division of Elections. All but $7,000 came via four contributions on July 6 and July 10, from Mark Groban, a family friend, of Rockville, Md.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

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But Disney is now saying Piccolo’s wrongful death suit is unlawful — because he had a Disney+ subscription.

The terms and conditions of that subscription, company attorneys insist in a recent court filing, requires disputes with Disney — regardless of the underlying issue — to be settled outside court.

Piccolo and his attorneys blasted the company’s logic in their 123-page response earlier this month.

“There is not a single authority in Florida that would support such an inane argument,” they said.

In a statement released late Wednesday, after this story was first published, a Disney spokesman distanced the company from the restaurant, Raglan Road Irish Pub, while also justifying out-of-court arbitration as a cheaper way to settle legal disputes.

“We are deeply saddened by the family’s loss and understand their grief,” the statement read. “Given that this restaurant is neither owned nor operated by Disney, we are merely defending ourselves against the plaintiff’s attorney’s attempt to include us in their lawsuit against the restaurant.”

According to a wrongful death suit Piccolo filed in February, he, his wife Kanokporn Tangsuan and Tangsuan’s mother ate at the pub in October 2023.

At the pub, Tangsuan repeatedly asked her waiter whether the vegan fritters, onion rings, scallops and vegan shepherd’s pie she’d ordered could be made without nuts and dairy, to which she was severely allergic. The waiter confirmed her meal would be cooked without exposure to those foods.

When the food arrived, the couple checked again that her order was allergen-free, because there were no flags to signify it was. The restaurant staff reassured them, the suit says.

After the meal, Tangsuan began to have trouble breathing. She injected herself with an EpiPen but collapsed inside the restaurant Planet Hollywood.

Tangsuan’s mother and Piccolo, who had separated from her after dinner, learned through a phone call that Tangsuan was taken to a hospital where she died.

According to the complaint, a medical examiner determined Tangsuan was experiencing anaphylaxis because of “elevated” levels of nuts and dairy in her system.

Piccolo had signed up for a Disney+ free trial in November 2019, and according to legal papers filed Aug. 2, he doesn’t have records of paying for the streaming service after his trial ended, suggesting he let it lapse. The fine print for that account requires disputes be resolved through arbitration, not the court system.

Piccolo had also purchased tickets to Epcot last year through a Disney account, which has the same arbitration conditions as the streaming service. Piccolo said he was unaware of the conditions, and in any case, does not believe they legally would apply to his wife’s death.

But Disney’s attorneys, under the firm White & Case, said whether or not Piccolo actually reviewed the terms is “immaterial” and that legal proceedings should be stopped: “This broad language covers Piccolo’s claims against [Walt Disney Parks and Resorts],” company attorneys wrote in a May motion to arbitrate the dispute.

“We have no further comment at this time as our responsive pleading details the facts supporting our position,” said Brian Denney, Piccolo’s attorney. “There is a hearing scheduled for October 2nd where these issues will be brought before the court.”

Piccolo is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

The Florida Atlantic University poll shows Trump leading Harris 50% to 47% among likely voters in the state. Just 2% said they were undecided and 1% said they’d vote for another candidate.

The 3-point Trump advantage is half the lead he had in June, the last time FAU polled in the state. Trump had a 6-point advantage among likely voters, 49% to 43%, when President Joe Biden was the Democratic candidate two months ago.

The results of the Florida survey released Wednesday, which are similar to what’s been showing up in other national and state specific polls, demonstrate how much the trajectory of the presidential race has been upended since July 21, when Biden ended his campaign for reelection.

“This is consistent with the pattern that we’ve been seeing since Vice President Harris came into the race, that she’s consolidated a lot of the traditional Democratic groups and they’ve turned this into a very competitive race,” Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political scientist, said in a phone interview.

Wagner is also co-director of FAU’s PolCom Lab, a collaboration of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies and Department of Political Science, which conducted the poll.

Another FAU political scientist, Dukhong Kim said in a statement that the results show that “Harris restores the traditional base of the Democratic Party, which includes women, minorities, younger voters, and Democratic Party identifiers.”  Trump, he said, maintains his own established base.”

The return of the Democratic base makes the contest  more competitive, Wagner said, even though the state has been trending more Republican.

When a larger sample of “all voters” as opposed to “likely voters” is considered, there’s also a 3-point difference. Among all Florida voters, the poll found Trump 49% and Harris 46%, with 2% preferring another candidate and 3% undecided.

Kennedy

The overall parameters of the Florida contest change slightly when factoring in the third-party candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,  the anti-vaccine activist and son of the assassinated U.S. senator.

When he’s in the mix, Trump has 47% of likely voters, Harris has 45% and Kennedy has 5%.

“It’s a tighter race with RFK Jr.,” Wagner said. “RFK Jr. at least for now seems to be hurting former President Trump.”

The FAU results are in line with a Suffolk University/USA TODAY/WSVN-Ch. 7 poll of likely Florida voters released Tuesday. Trump had 47%, Harris had 42% and Kennedy had 5%. The Suffolk survey was conducted via phone from Aug. 7 to Aug. 11.

In FAU’s previous Florida poll in June, a three-way race found Trump had 45% of likely voters to 40% for Biden and 8% for Kennedy.

Gender, age

There’s a sizable gender gap among likely voters, with women much more likely to prefer Harris and men much more likely to prefer Trump.

Women: Harris had support of 53% of women, 10 percentage points higher than Trump’s support among women.

Men: Trump had the support of 56% of men, 16 percentage points higher than Harris’ support among men.

Younger: Among voters under age 50, Harris led Trump 50% to 44%.

Older: Among voters 50 and older, Trump led Harris 53% to 44%.

Partisan divide

More than nine in 10 Democrats and Republicans supported their party’s nominee, with 94% of Democrats for Harris and 93% of Republicans for Trump.

Independents were closely divided, but slightly favored Harris, 48% to 43%.

Another illustration of the depth of the partisan divide was shown in voters’ responses to the selection of Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as the Democratic nominee for vice president.

Among all voters, the choice had approval of 44% and disapproval of 33%, with the rest neither approving nor disapproving.

But the breakdowns by party showed deep division. Among Democrats, 70% strongly approved of the choice and 1% strongly disapproved. Among Republicans 43% strongly disapproved and 8% strongly approved.

Independents were more evenly split, with 21% strongly approving and 16% strongly disapproving.

Wagner said the Walz results “illustrate how much of what we see and perceive today is just through a partisan lens. So many people have formed an opinion on someone who was largely unknown about a week ago.”

Senate race

The poll found a close race between U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and his likely challenger, former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

(Mucarsel-Powell, who has the support of virtually the entire Democratic Party establishment, is almost certain to emerge as the winner of the Aug. 20 party primary.)

In a matchup between the two, Scott has 47% of likely voters to 43% for Mucarsel-Powell. Another 6% said they were undecided and 3% said they supported another candidate.

The June FAU poll had Scott at 45% to Mucarsel-Powell’s 43%.

The latest Senate numbers showed predictable patterns: Mucarsel-Powell had more support among younger voters and Scott had more support among older voters. The Democrat had more support among women and Scott had more support among men.

Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly (88% for each party) supported their party’s candidate. Among independents there was a tie at 41%.

“Scott is winning, but it’s within range that a surge of Democratic voters could make that a nail biter,” Wagner said.

Ultimately, Wagner said, the results in the presidential and Senate races will depend on which side turns out its voters.

“Because of the way that the state has trended, if both bases come out, then Republicans are likely going to be good, and I think that’s what you see in our numbers. It’s tighter, but it is still a Republican-leaning state. That would be good for Senator Scott and former President Trump.”

Florida poll finds abortion, marijuana amendments falling short of passage

Florida in play?

Political analysts have seen Trump as the overwhelming favorite to win Florida’s 30 electoral votes, more than 10% of the 270 needed to win the presidency. In 2020, Trump won Florida by 3.3 percentage points.

The poll, which is a snapshot taken early in the Harris candidacy, doesn’t mean Florida is in play.

“It’s possible if the race continues the trajectory it’s on. However, it’s still a bit early to make the determination, and we’ll have to see how the race progresses. If in the next few weeks there are more surveys that show Florida is tight, then it’s possible,” Wagner said.

Still, he said, the poll results are “a warning sign for the Trump campaign.”

Harris, now the Democratic nominee, has enjoyed a bonanza of publicity, and drawn enormous crowds at rallies in critical battleground states. Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, hasn’t yet implemented a strategy to counter the changed political environment.

Trump has spent lots of time at his Mar-a-Lago club and home in Palm Beach and hasn’t been doing many big, in-person rallies recently in battleground states. He held a rally in overwhelmingly Republican Montana on Friday, and is scheduled to speak about the economy Wednesday in North Carolina and headline a rally in battleground Pennsylvania on Saturday.

“It’s been a positive couple of weeks for the Democratic ticket. That could be a high water mark or this could be a trend. It’s hard to know in the moment,” Wagner said. “What really happened here is Harris has consolidated and brought a wavering Democratic coalition back, which gets you to where we’ve been for a while, which is an evenly divided country.”

Democrats had 558,272 more registered voters than the Republicans immediately after the 2012 election, when then-President Barack Obama won the state on his way to winning a second term and then-U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla, won reelection.

The official state tally of registered voters shows that as of July 22, there were 994,847 more registered Republicans than Democrats in Florida. (Examining totals from each of the state’s county supervisor of elections, the Fresh Take Florida news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications estimated that the Republican advantage hit 1 million on Sunday.)

Even if Harris doesn’t win the state, a better than expected performance, propelled by voter enthusiasm for the new Democratic ticket, could help her party by getting more voters to the polls who might then vote for more Democratic candidates for lower level offices.

Fine print

The poll of 1,055 Florida registered voters was conducted Aug. 10 and 11 by Mainstreet Research for Florida Atlantic University’s PolCom Lab.

The survey used an online panel and automated phone calls to reach other voters. It has a margin of error equivalent to plus or minus 3 percentage points.

However, the margin of error for smaller groups, such as Republicans or Democrats, or men and women, would be higher because the sample sizes are smaller.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

A Florida Atlantic University poll released Wednesday found both falling short of the 60% required for passage. A Suffolk University poll also found the abortion amendment short of hitting the threshold, and the marijuana question with slightly more than it needs.

Abortion: FAU found 56% of voters surveyed support and 21% oppose Amendment 4, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution. The Suffolk/USA TODAY/WSVN-Ch. 7 poll reported 58% support and 35% opposed.

Marijuana: FAU found 56% support and 29% oppose Amendment 3, which would legalize recreational marijuana for people age 21 and older. Suffolk reported 63% in favor and 33% opposed.

There are still more than enough voters who said they didn’t know — 23% on the abortion question and 15% on the marijuana question in the Florida Atlantic University poll — that passage is possible. Voters will be bombarded with extensive pro and con campaigns on both questions through the fall.

Conflicting polls

So how is it that two Florida polls released on the same day appear contradictory?

(A third Florida poll, released 16 days ago, had different results as well. A University of North Florida poll found greater support (69% to 23%) for the abortion rights amendment and for the marijuana referendum (64% to 31%).

It involves the nature of polling.

People who produce high-quality public opinion polls always point out that their surveys are snapshots of what people say at the time they’re asked. The timing of when polls are being taken — they describe it as being “in the field” — can make a difference.

Mainstreet Research for Florida Atlantic University’s PolCom Lab: 1,055 Florida registered voters, was conducted Aug. 10 and 11.

Suffolk University/USA TODAY/WSVN-Ch. 7: 500 likely Florida general election voters, was conducted between Aug. 7 and Aug. 11.

University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab: 774 registered voters, from July 24 to July 27.

In a statement about FAU’s results, political scientist Luzmarina Garcia noted the difference since its last poll on the amendments in the spring. “These results reflect a growing awareness of the constitutional amendments. In April, FAU polled on both initiatives and at that time these measures had 49% approval, which shows a gain of 7 (percentage points) over the last four months.”

The methods pollsters use can make a difference in the nature of the sample.

Pollsters use a range of techniques, some involving live callers to phone lines, others online surveys, others automated calls to phone lines and others use an online component. Sometimes they use a combination of methods to try to reach people, especially younger voters, who may be less inclined to answer their phones.

FAU’s survey used an online panel and automated phone calls to reach other voters.

Suffolk’s survey used live telephone interviews.

UNF’s survey used an online panel, in which voters were contacted by text message and asked to complete the survey, and from live callers.

Pollsters also make adjustments to weight the samples. If, for example, the survey doesn’t have enough people of a certain demographic group to reflect the total population, they’ll make a statistical adjustment so the total sample more accurately represents the entire population.

And polling isn’t precise. The margin of error indicates the range in which pollsters expect the results to be accurate most of the time.

Candidate A has 54% and Candidate B has 46% and the margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points, A and B could be tied at 50% each. Or, it could be 58-42.

The FAU poll has a margin of error equivalent to plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Suffolk said its margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

UNF reported a margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The margin of error refers to the full poll. However, the margin of error for smaller groups, such as Republicans or Democrats, or men and women, would be higher because the sample sizes are smaller.

Abortion

The Florida Atlantic University poll found the abortion rights amendment is supported by a majority of every group surveyed — except Republicans.

Republicans were evenly divided, with 35% supporting and 35% opposing the amendment.

Democrats, with 80% in support and 8% opposed, favor the amendment more than any other group.

Independents are in favor, 59% to 15%.

Democrats were far more likely to have made up their minds. Just 12% of Democrats said they didn’t know how they would vote, compared to 27% of independents and 30% of Republicans.

Women were more likely than men to support the abortion rights amendment.

Women support it 59% to 19%, a 40-percentage point advantage.

Men support it 54% to 24%, a 30-point advantage.

And voters under age 50 were more likely to support the proposed amendment (62%) than voters 50 and older (52%.)

With Harris in race, poll shows closer contest in Florida. Trump now leads by 3 points.

Marijuana

The FAU survey shows a big age divide on the referendum that would allow recreational use of marijuana under state law by adults.

Voters younger than age 50 favor it, 69% to 20% — a difference of 49 percentage points, FAU reported.

Voters 50 and older support it more narrowly, 47% to 36%, a difference of 11 points.

There’s no difference based on gender, with 56% of men and 56% of women supporting legalization.

There is, however, a significant partisan divide.

Democrats favor the marijuana amendment 74% to 15%.

Independents favor it 63% to 22%.

Republican support is much lower at 37%, with 46% opposed.

“If they’re going to hit that 60%, the supporters of the amendment are probably going to have to reach a few more Republicans or have a particularly Democratic-leaning electorate, which sees a challenge in a presidential election year,” said Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political scientist.

Wagner is also co-director of FAU’s PolCom Lab, a collaboration of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies and Department of Political Science, which conducted the poll.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

Broward County already has agreed to budget for 10 tiny fiberglass homes, called Pallet shelters. But it is reconsidering whether to prioritize placing homeless families in the new shelters because that approach would be more expensive than officials realized.

Soon after the county agreed in theory to the idea that would give priority to families with children, the reality came of how far the dollar would stretch: Pallet-shelter models without bathrooms cost between $15,000 and $20,000, with people expected to use communal bathrooms. The homes with bathrooms have a price tag of about $50,000.

Now, the county has to decide whether to continue its original plan, or shift to prioritize single people who may be more agreeable to use communal bathrooms. Transitioning the homeless to the brand-new shelters would still free up space in existing group shelters, which could make way for more families, county officials hope.

Rebecca McGuire, Broward’s Housing Strategy and Innovation Officer, said Tuesday that both options are still being considered.

Broward homeless advocates have hailed the shelters as a solution to coax people off the street into a private home where they feel “safe and secure.”
Of the county budget, $500,000 would be an annual recurring expense for the operational fees associated with the homes; $250,000 would be to construct the shelters.

Finding a location for the shelters

McGuire said the county is now “actively looking for locations” for the shelter village, which could placed on land owned by the county or a Broward city, or on private property, but at a site that wouldn’t be disruptive to a community or businesses.

The county also is getting additional quotes for the temporary shelters.

Records show there are 659 shelter beds within Broward County’s system, and a newly released consultant’s “Pallet Sheltering Feasibility Study Report” showed people favorable to the idea. Consultants polled 355 people in nine categories, including homeless service providers, police, politicians, and homeless and formerly homeless people.

Although, there still was some hesitation that Pallet “villages are too similar to encampments,” and “there is an unclear exit strategy for (Pallet) residents to affordable housing.”

The newly released survey shows respondents view the shelters and villages “as better than existing emergency shelters and emergency shelter conditions,” according to records.

McGuire said, like traditional shelters, there would be curfews and rules, and the idea is a temporary spot before helped into transitional housing.

But change is inevitable: “Our homeless population is increasing,” McGuire said. “We’ve got to increase our shelter capacity.”

Local government said they are fighting the clock to come up with additional homelessness solutions before a new state law goes into effect: On Oct. 1, cities and counties will be required to enforce bans on sleeping on public property, including the beach, sidewalks, bus stops and parks.

One idea currently in talks between Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Warren Sturman and Broward County is to replicate what is known in San Diego as “Safe Parking,” where parking lots are designated for the homeless to spend the night without worrying about being arrested or being forced to move. The idea has drawn some pushback, and the city has not yet voted on the issue.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash

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All of them had human remains inside.

Sunshine State Sonar, a team of volunteer divers known for solving missing persons cases across Florida, visited Broward County over the last few weeks to search for the remains of a missing mother and child, inadvertently locating two other cars owned by people missing from the area for years.

On Saturday, the team says they successfully found what they were looking for: the remains of Doris Wurst and her 3-year-old daughter, Caren, reported missing from Plantation in November 1974. But in the process, they uncovered cars linked to the missing persons cases of Bernie Novick, an 83-year-old World War II veteran, and Eduardo Graterol, 31, who never came home from a party at a friend’s house.

Volunteer dive teams like Sunshine State Sonar are not new to the area, though the sheer number of finds in a matter of weeks has made local headlines. Together, divers located hundreds of cars and at least six missing people in Florida over the course of 2023 alone.

“There’s like a thousand cars in water in Miami-Dade and Broward,” Mike Sullivan, one of the founders of Sunshine State Sonar, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday.

The blue Honda Civic

The first find came in late July: Sunshine State Sonar was looking for Wurst and her daughter, and assisting in a search for a missing Fort Lauderdale woman with Alzheimer’s disease, when they found a submerged vehicle in a retention pond along southbound Interstate 75 at the Miramar Parkway exit in Miramar on July 30.

The Florida Highway Patrol hasn’t confirmed it, but the company said the car was a blue 2011 Honda Civic that, when last seen, was being driven by Eduardo Paul Graterol, who was reported missing by the Pembroke Pines Police Department in 2018.

He had been missing since Oct. 21, 2018 from his home in Pembroke Pines. He was last seen at a party in Fort Lauderdale.

The body in the submerged vehicle has not been positively identified, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release. DNA results are pending, as is the cause of the crash that caused the car to end up underwater.

The 1999 Buick LeSabre

The second find came last weekend.

Bernie Novick was 83 years old when he left his wife of 55 years in their Plantation condo and never returned. On Monday, the same Plantation Police detective who had searched for him back in 2004 called Novick’s family, his son said: Novick’s silver 1999 Buick LeSabre had been found in a lake not too far away from where he lived.

“It was a very emotional situation,” Novick’s youngest son, Joey, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday.

Bernie Novick grew up in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, his son said, before World War II broke out. He was drafted at age 20 and served in the artillery unit, stationed in North Africa, Italy and France. Later, he liked to joke to his family that he had the highest rank in the military and personally helped Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill win the war. As a kid, Joey Novick believed him.

Yet it was not war but the pain Bernie Novick felt towards the end of his life that became unmanageable, his son said. He had begun suffering from spinal degeneration and had to use a walker. Joey Novick recalled visiting Florida from his home in New Jersey to help his mother take care of his father, bringing him food and taking him to see doctors. In July 2004, shortly after Joey Novick returned to New Jersey, he got a call from his mother: his father had disappeared.

He flew back. For three weeks, they looked for any sign of Novick. Divers with the Plantation Fire Department searched nearby bodies of water. A few TV stations ran his picture, but nothing turned up. For the next 20 years, Joey Novick surmised that his father had died by suicide.

“At the time I thought what had happened was he decided that the pain was too much and decided to take his own life, possibly,” he said. “And I sort of moved on.”

Plantation Police wrote in a release that the man had “numerous health issues” and his wife said he suffered from depression.

Five years after Bernie Novick disappeared, the family was able to declare him legally dead. They gathered in Florida and sat Shiva for him, telling stories over a big meal at a local diner, the kind of thing Novick loved to do when he was alive.

“The only thing missing at that dinner was my dad,” Joey Novick recalled.

The ceremony brought his family as much closure as they could get. Joey Novick’s mother, who went on living alone in the Plantation condo, died in 2012, eight years after her husband disappeared.

Then, this past Saturday, divers with Sunshine State Sonar went to Plantation. But they weren’t looking for Novick. They were looking for Wurst and her 3-year-old daughter when they happened to locate another car in a nearby lake at 10151 SW First St. about an hour before.

“We knew it wasn’t gonna be Doris and Karen, so we left it behind,” said Sullivan, the co-founder of the diving team. “We had every intention of diving it, just not at that moment.”

They thought it might just be a stolen car. It was not. On Sunday, detectives with the Plantation Police Department met with Broward Sheriff’s Office divers, who pulled Novick’s 1999 Buick from the lake.

Even though family members were notified about the find, Detective Robert Rettig, a spokesperson for the police department, declined to provide a name because police still have to officially identify the remains using DNA or dental records.

“Within all likelihood this is going to be him,” Rettig said. “It’s his car and the remains are consistent. However, we aren’t going to verify that because we need to do our due diligence.”

In addition to missing people, Sunshine State Sonar divers have located a cement mixer in a lake in Deerfield Beach and a U-Haul truck in Lauderdale Lakes; with no people to identify, the stories behind them are even more of a mystery. Sullivan wonders if they’re kids sending them into the water for fun or associated with more serious crimes. His team has since left the area. But in about a month, they’ll be back to help dredge up more cars.

Just Tuesday afternoon, about 2:30 p.m., another car was found in a canal near 8400 W. Oakland Park Blvd. in Sunrise, police say. There was a body inside.

Sullivan said his team was not behind the discovery.

“At this time, the identity of the deceased, the vehicle description, and the cause of death are being investigated,” said Victor Fortune, a spokesperson for Sunrise Police. “More information will be provided as it becomes available.”

The South Florida Sun Sentinel typically highlights restaurant inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in Broward and Palm Beach counties. We cull through inspections that happen weekly and spotlight places ordered shut for “high-priority violations,” such as improper food temperatures or dead cockroaches.

Any restaurant that fails a state inspection must stay closed until it passes a follow-up. If you spotted a possible violation and wish to file a complaint, contact Florida DBPR. (But please don’t contact us: The Sun Sentinel doesn’t inspect restaurants.)

BROWARD COUNTY

Diner by the Sea
215 Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea

Ordered shut: Aug. 2-3; reopened Aug. 7

Why: 14 violations (three high-priority), including about 44 rodent droppings in kitchen areas such as “under microwave on shelf,” “on prep table under and behind steam table” and “on top of dish washing machine.”

Three dead roaches were found “under triple sink,” “next to stove in kitchen” and “on shelf at front counter.”

Other violations included:

• Floor soiled/has accumulation of debris “behind stove in prep room”
• “Standing water on floor behind ice machine”
• “Accumulation of debris on exterior of warewashing machine”

A stop sale was ordered for commercially processed, reduced-oxygen packaged fish. The reason: It had “a label indicating that it is to remain frozen until time of use [but was] no longer frozen and not removed from reduced oxygen package.”

The diner remained closed the next day when a follow-up inspection found eight violations (including one high-priority). It reopened after a third inspection found six violations (four intermediate and two basic), but a follow-up inspection is required.

Stoner’s Pizza Joint
1509 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

Ordered shut: July 31 and Aug. 1-2; reopened Aug. 2

Why: 11 violations (two high-priority), including about 13 rodent droppings in an exterior storage unit that “is separate from kitchen and contains a reach-in cooler, reach-in freezer” and pizza boxes, as well as “in hallway leading to triple sink under dunnage racks containing preformed pizza boxes.”

About 10 live flies were seen “in hallway leading to dry storage containing triple sink” and “in kitchen between hand wash sink and flip-top cooler at cook line.” The inspection also found an “accumulation of dead flies on fly sticky trap in kitchen below cook line hand wash sink.”

Other violations included:

• “Standing water  in bottom of reach-in-cooler”
•  “Standing water on floor in front of flip-top cooler”
• “Objectionable odor in hallway with bathroom leading [to] storage room with triple sink”

The pizza place remained closed after a next-day inspection found eight violations (two high-priority). A third inspection found six violations, forcing the state to shut Stoner’s again, but it was allowed to reopen later that day after a fourth inspection found five basic violations.

Kasa Champet Restaurant & Lounge
7920 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines

Ordered shut: Aug. 1; reopened Aug. 2

Why: 10 violations (five high-priority), including two live roaches “on ceiling in back room, next to kitchen” and one dead roach “on wall above employee rights poster.” One live fly was seen in the “to-go cashier area away from kitchen.”

Stop sales were ordered for cooked chicken, cooked sausage and shredded lettuce due to “temperature abuse.” The state also found marinade stored in a large bucket left uncovered in a two-door lowboy cooler.

A follow-up inspection the next day found no violations, so Kasa Champet was allowed to reopen.

Mangia & Bevi Pizzeria Napoletana 
2378 Weston Road, Weston

Ordered shut: July 29-30; reopened July 31

Why: 14 violations (eight high-priority), including six live roaches seen “on storage rack in the dishwasher/prepping area in kitchen.”

The state found food storage issues, including a box of oil “stored directly on floor” and “raw beef (not commercially packaged) stored above box of cheese.” And stop sales due to “temperature abuse” were ordered for ham, grilled peppers, sausage, Brussels sprouts and tomato sauce.

Also reported: An “employee handled soiled dishes then proceeded to cut cheese without washing hands.”

The restaurant remained closed the next day when a second inspection found three violations (two high-priority). After a third inspection, the pizza place was allowed to reopen with two violations (one high-priority and one intermediate).

Lutong Pinoy 2
9131 Pembroke Road, Pembroke Pines

Ordered shut: July 29; reopened July 30

Why: 12 violations (two high-priority), including “water and sewage backing up from all floor drains throughout kitchen,” with employees “stepping and walking through sewage water.”

The inspection found “raw shell eggs stored over cooked rice in walk-in cooler,” “containers with cooking oil stored on kitchen floor” and “various food items stored on walk-in freezer floor.” Additionally, an “operator” was seen washing and rinsing food containers and utensils without proper sanitizing process.

Other violations included:

• “Accumulation of black mold-like substance buildup” on air-conditioning vents and ceiling tiles throughout kitchen, as well as on a can opener blade
• “Accumulation of brown-like substance buildup on can opener holster”

The restaurant was allowed to reopen after a next-day inspection found three basic violations.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Island’s Roti Delight
1480 S. Military Trail, West Palm Beach

Ordered shut: July 31; reopened Aug. 2

Why: Three violations (two high-priority), including about 26 roaches in the kitchen crawling “around water heater,” “on wall behind triple sink,” “on wall behind prep table” and “out of paper towel dispenser.”

Additionally, more than 100 dead roaches were found throughout the restaurant.

The inspection also found “portioned bags of raw chicken stored over raw goat” in a reach-in freezer.

Island’s reopened two days later when a follow-up inspection found no violations.

IHOP
1503 Belvedere Road, West Palm Beach

Ordered shut: Aug. 1; reopened Aug. 2

Why: Five violations (all high-priority), including about 11 rodent droppings in kitchen areas such as “on floor next to walk-in cooler,” “on floor under dish machine,” “on floor in dry storage area” and “on floor at expo line.”

The report also noted the presence of “rodent nesting materials,” including “chewed/gathered insulation/debris in kitchen behind water heater.”

An employee was seen cracking raw shell eggs and then handling a clean plate to serve a cooked omelet without washing hands.

Other violations included:

• “Portioned bags of raw chicken stored over portioned bags of raw shrimp” in a freezer
• Raw shell eggs/liquid eggs with no time mark at the cook line

IHOP reopened the next day after a follow-up inspection found no violations.

Tacos Al Carbon Bar & Grill
2161 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., West Palm Beach

Ordered shut: Aug. 1; reopened Aug. 2

Why: Nine violations (eight high-priority), including about 30 rodent droppings around the kitchen — “on shelves over prep table/sink,” “in prep sink,” “on floor in prep area,” in “dry storage area on top of single-service article boxes,” “on top of food storage containers/shelves to left of microwave,” “on floor in liquor storage area” and “on floor around ice machine.”

According to the report, an employee “handled soiled dishes while carrying to dish area and then returned to cook line and began preparing food without washing hands.” The state also noted the presence of “raw chicken stored over cooked beans” in a reach-in cooler and “portioned raw chicken stored over raw fish” in a reach-in freezer.

Food temperature issues included the restaurant’s cooked seafood soup and cooked tomatoes “being cooled by nonapproved method.” Additionally, stop sales were ordered for its raw beef, raw chicken, cooked beans and cut tomatoes.

A next-day inspection found no violations and the restaurant reopened.

Quates Mexican Restaurant II
9858 Clint Moore Road, Suite 134, Boca Raton

Ordered shut: July 31; reopened Aug. 1

Why: Six violations (one high-priority), including about 34 roaches in the dining room “on underside of table at beverage station,” “on ground at beverage station” and “on electrical cord behind beverage station”; in the ware washing area “in between wall and triple sink” and “on wall above triple sink”; and in the kitchen “on wall in linen washing area,” “on ground under flat top on cook line” and inside “wheel of two-door low-top cooler on cook line,” among other areas.

About 13 dead roaches were found “on dining room table,” “on shelf at beverage station in dining room,” “on ground in linen washing area in kitchen,” “on shelf in liquor storage room” and “inside of control device at bar.”

The inspection also found stained/soiled cutting boards with cut marks that are no longer cleanable.

Quates was able to reopen after a next-day inspection found four violations (three intermediate, one basic); a follow-up inspection is required.

China Lane Restaurant
6619 Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach

Ordered shut: July 29; reopened July 30

Why: Nine violations (five high-priority), including about 12 rodent droppings in the kitchen “on top of dish machine” and “on ground under dish shelf in ware washing area.”

Also in the kitchen, the inspection found about 14 live and four dead roaches, in areas such as “on prep table holding rice warmers in front of cook line,” “on right-side rice warmer in front of cook line,” “on underside of shelving above cook line flip-tops” and “on shelf under steam table on cook line.”

Other violations included:

• “Raw beef stored above ready-to-eat green beans in two-door glass slider on cook line”
• “Printed menus used to line pan of green beans in direct contact”
• “Bin containing prescription medication/medications stored on shelf above cook line with single-service items”

The restaurant reopened the next day after a follow-up inspection found one basic violation.

Gabriel’s Cafe & Grill
12793 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite G, Wellington

Ordered shut: July 29; reopened July 30

Why: Four violations (all high-priority), including about 25 rodent droppings “under dry storage shelf near prep area,” “on shelf where container of nuts are stored in dry storage area” and “under table beside dishwasher in kitchen.”

The inspection found food temperature issues with the restaurant’s whipped butter, cheese, chocolate milk and whole milk, and a stop sale was ordered for the pico de gallo salsa.

A dishwasher was seen handling dirty dishes then clean dishes without changing gloves or washing hands.

Gabriel’s was allowed to reopen after a next-day inspection visit found two high-priority violations. Another follow-up inspection is required.