Tag Archives: Gus Barreiro

Aide For Miami-Dade State Senator Annette Taddeo Launches Coral Springs Political Action Committee

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An aide for State Senator Annette Taddeo (D-Miami) recently created a political committee apparently tied to the upcoming Coral Springs city commission election. State records show the “Coral Springs Community Strong” political committee was created on May 20, 2019 by David Geller. He is listed as the chairman and treasurer of the PAC. According to the documents filed with the Florida Division Of Elections, the committee is located at 1221 South 21st Avenue in Hollywood, Florida.

This is the same address used by the Barreiro, Geller, Wahid (BGW) lobbying firm.

Last week, REDBROWARD revealed Coral Springs city commission candidate Khurrum Wahid hid his role as a lobbyist from voters. None of Wahid’s campaign materials list his lobbyist work. However, the website for his law firm trumpets Wahid’s lobbyist role.

Mr. Wahid is also a partner at Barreiro Geller and Wahid Consulting, a lobbying firm…. lobbies local, state, and federal government agencies in order to leverage relationships for the benefit of corporate interests. Additionally, BGW Consulting manages several elected officials public images and election efforts.

David Geller was Wahid’s partner at BGW Consulting. The Wahid campaign did not respond to questions regarding his lobbying or clients.

An entry on his vanity website, KhurrumWahid.com, mentions a new lobbying group–“Axcis Partners Government Affairs Consulting.” According to State records, Axcis Partners is owned by Gus Barreiro, Khurrum Wahid and Adam Geller, the brother of David Geller.

Adam Geller’s firm, Geller Tamayo, uses the same Hollywood address as the “Coral Springs Community Strong” political committee.

State Senator Annette Taddeo has endorsed Khurrum Wahid, but is she aware her aide started a political committee?

DARK MONEY COMES TO CORAL SPRINGS?

Will “Coral Springs Community Strong” attack Khurrum Wahid’s five opponents for seat 2? Earlier this month, REDBROWARD reported a Wahid campaign official blasted candidate Diane Gonzalez Simpson for using a Sun-Sentinel article about the election. Alissa Jean Schafer blasted Simpson for “feeding into the fear mongering” by “sharing this racist article.”

Even though the Simpson Facebook advertisement made no mention of Khurrum Wahid, Schafer believed the sharing of a newspaper story could lead to violence. Schaefer wrote, “This is downright shameful at best, and dangerous at worst. We already know that spreading hateful fear-mongering rumors can lead to devastating violence, we have far too many recent examples.”

Not only does Alissa Schafer, an elected official, thinks the Sun-Sentinel story could lead to violence, she falsely claimed the Sun-Sentinel apologized for the story.

In response to the REDBROWARD story, Lisa Huriash, the Sun-Sentinel reporter who wrote about the candidates said no apology was made to Khurrum Wahid. Huriash wrote, “Hello. I just want to set the record straight here. Yes, we did update the story after a candidate, Khurrum Wahid, issued a response, including why he has represented terrorism suspects. We did this out of fairness, to provide more explanation and context. The first story was accurate, and we never apologized for it. That’s the full truth. Thank you for allowing me to share it.”

Once again, the Wahid campaign refused to respond to the controversy or apologize to Huriash.

Will “Coral Springs Community Strong” spread fake news like Schafer?

Will “Coral Springs Community Strong” fund mailers or palm cards for the June 18th election?

REDBROWARD asked David Geller to comment, we will update story if he responds.

Coral Springs voters deserve answers from Khurrum Wahid, right?

Outside Progressive Groups Flooding Coral Springs Political Races With Campaign Cash

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Since 2017, national progressive groups have flooded Coral Springs politicians with campaign contributions. Normally, municipal races are funded by friends and neighbors of candidates as well as local business owners and developers. However, a review of Coral Springs campaign reports show contributions from progressive groups across the United States and Florida with very few contributions from Coral Springs residents or businesses.

In 2018, Joshua Simmons, a Broward school teacher, beat incumbent Coral Springs Commissioner Lou Cimaglia. Despite being a political novice, Simmons managed to collect nearly $32,000 in campaign contributions. Simmons received contributions from MoveOn.org, Emerge (Emgage), and Latino Victory US. Simmons had the financial support of politicians like Rep Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), Broward School Board Member Rosalind Osgood, and Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness.

None of these politicians represent the City of Coral Springs.

According to the reports, more than 75% of Josh Simmons’ campaign contributions came from outside the City of Coral Springs.

The numbers were even more stunning for the 2019 mayoral campaign of Nancy Metayer. Her campaign received numerous contributions from progressive groups like Common Voices, Alliance For A Better Community, FLIC Votes, SEIU and Ruth’s List. None of these groups are located in Coral Springs. Metayer had the support of politicians like Dale Holness, Tamarac Commissioner Mike Gelin, Sunrise Commissioner Mark Douglas, West Park Commissioner Brian Johnson and Hallandale Beach Vice Mayor Sabrina Javellana.

According to Metayer’s campaign reports, only 30 contributions came from Coral Springs. Over 90% of her 304 contributions were made from people and groups from outside Coral Springs city limits.

In a stark contrast, Metayer was defeated by Scott Brook who received 53 percent of his campaign contributions from Coral Springs residents.

Coral Springs commission candidate Khurrum Wahid is showing numbers similar to Nancy Metayer. For the upcoming June 18, 2019 seat 2 election, Khurrum Wahid reported 202 total contributions. Only 21 of the contributions came from Coral Springs. Ninety percent (181) of Wahid’s contributions were made by entities outside Coral Springs.

Why are progressive groups and outside interests flooding Coral Springs elections with money? What do they want in return?