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CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - Democratic Senate hopeful Alex Penelas
faced questions Thursday about police tactics during last November's
Free Trade Area of the Americas talks, with one union retiree
complaining that demonstrators were "treated like dogs."
Penelas and his rivals for the party's nomination to the U.S. Senate addressed several hundred retired members of a health care workers union, offering their views on issues such as the protection of Social Security and the right to form unions.
But the mundane forum took a turn when Murray Gilman, a retired
pharmacist from Delray Beach, told the Miami-Dade County mayor about his
experience at the protests - "I get down there and see people being
treated like dogs" - and recalled that one colleague was "arrested and
handcuffed."
"That's your police. Where were you when this happened? Why did you
let this happen to us?" Gilman said as retired members of the Service
Employees International Union cheered.
Penelas said he would take full responsibility for any wrongdoing
by the county's police department, but said "the Miami-Dade Police
Department was not the lead agency in this meeting of the FTAA. It was
the city of Miami police. It's two different jurisdictions. It's two
different police...," Penelas said, interrupted by jeers from some
retirees.
The mayor said he has worked closely with labor leaders and no
complaints have been filed against the county's police department for
its role during the FTAA protests.
"I run a community of 2 1/2 million people, one of the most complex
and difficult communities anywhere in America. I am not one that shies
or runs away from responsibility," Penelas said.
Nancy Astrachan, a Delray Beach retiree, complained about police in
"full riot gear," describing a protest scene where helicopters buzzed
overhead and elderly union members had trouble returning to their buses.
Penelas said officers were dressed in riot gear because
intelligence "suggested that there was a group of 500 to 700 anarchists
who had made very specific threats against the welfare and safety of"
protesters.
Police arrested 146 people during FTAA demonstrations, including up
to 28 felony arrests. Organized labor, a group heavily courted by
Democratic candidates, has criticized the police conduct.
Ryan Hampton, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, one of
Penelas' rivals in the Senate primary, said the mayor was shifting
blame.
"Mayor Penelas still owes an explanation to the AFL-CIO and the
working men and women of Florida of what really happened during the FTAA
protest and whether he authorized an excessive police presence during
the protest," Hampton said.
But Danae Jones, a Penelas campaign spokeswoman, said the mayor has
explained the different police jurisdictions and the lack of complaints
against the county.
"The mayor has been among the union's strongest supporters, and not
just in a position to vote yes and no but to actually step into the
line of fire on behalf of working people on more than one occasion,"
Jones said.
Penelas unveiled his plan
to reduce the cost of prescription drugs earlier in the day, and vowed
not to accept financial contributions from the manufacturers of
prescription drugs, their executives or their political action
committees.
During the forum, both Penelas and former state Education
Commissioner Betty Castor criticized Gov. Jeb Bush's decision to sign a
bill eliminating the waiting list for KidCare, the popular
state-subsidized health insurance program.
Castor, who worked to help establish the health care program in the
late 1980s, said the reforms would hurt children because of changes to
the future eligibility requirements.
"I can guarantee you that one of the consequences will be that a
lot of kids do not get coverage ... and that is unfair," Castor said.
Deutsch, who addressed the retirees by phone, outlined his work
helping elderly residents of nursing homes as a law student and vowed to
protect entitlement programs.
"I will do everything possible to prevent the condemnation of Social Security. Period," Deutsch said.
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