MAMI DADE CHRISTIAN COALITION

TAKE BACK MIAMI-DADE WILL INTRODUCE ELECTION DEPARTMENT'S VICTIMS

Miami, FL -- Take Back Miami-Dade, a citizens coalition of over four-hundred (400) civic, religious, and political organizations, as well as prominent community leaders, formed to secure a referendum on Miami-Dade County's highly controversial " orientation" amendment, will hold a brief press conference on Friday, August 10th, at 9 a.m. on the steps of the Downtown Miami Courthouse, 73 West Flagler Street.

Thirty-eight (38) voters whose valid signatures were arbitrarily thrown out by Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor David Leahy, are among the victims being denied their constitutional right to petition their government for a redress of grievances. Many of these citizens, impliedly accused of fraud by Mr. Leahy, are ready to face their accuser in open court.

"Unfortunately, arrogant government bureaucrats like David Leahy and Ivy Korman are transforming Miami-Dade into the new Selma of the South, where law-abiding citizens are brazenly denied their right to vote, in ways similar to what Bull Connor did in Alabama in the 1960s," declared Nathaniel Wilcox, spokesman for Communities Strengthening Families for the Good Life, one of the numerous community organization members of Take Back Miami-Dade.

Last year, Take Back Miami-Dade volunteers collected over 51,000 signatures, 16,000 MORE than the law required, petitioning for a referendum on the County's " orientation" amendment. To date, Miami-Dade Elections Supervisor David Leahy continues to abuse his authority by refusing to certify the petition in violation of his legal duties and in shameless contempt for the Rule of Law.

Take Back Miami-Dade, nevertheless, continues to defend the people's constitutional right to a referendum and demands a civil, respectful and community-wide dialogue on the entire " orientation" issue.For more information, please contact Eladio Jose Armesto, Communications Director, at 305/785-8787.

MIAMI-DADE ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR VIOLATES VOTERS' CIVIL RIGHTS.

He should resign immediately!
Miami, FL - Take Back Miami-Dade, a citizens coalition of over four-hundred (400) civic, religious, and political organizations, as well as prominent community leaders, working for a referendum on Miami-Dade County's highly offensive " orientation" amendment, on Monday denounced Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections David Leahy for violating voters' civil rights and called for his immediate resignation.

Leahy violated voter rights by deliberately ignoring twenty-three (23) sworn affidavits from voters whose signature on a Pro Referendum Citizens Petition Leahy arbitrarily rejected.

"This is one of the most incredible displays of arrogance and abuse of power ever witnessed in a county employee," declared former Florida State Representative Eladio Armesto-García, Take Back Miami-Dade Cochairman. "Mr. Leahy has publicly trampled on the civil rights of all Miami-Dade County voters and he must be held accountable for it. Mayor Alex Penelas needs to ask for his immediate resignation or fire him for this crime against democracy."

After conducting an investigation of its own in January of this year, The Miami Herald, who has attacked citizens' demands for a referendum, was forced to conclude that the voter signatures Leahy arbitrarily rejected were indeed valid. Although he has publicly acknowledged that the signatures he arbitrarily rejected belonged to registered voters, Leahy, nevertheless, obstinately refuses to count their signatures thereby evading his legal duty to certify the Citizens Petition.

"Unfortunately, arrogant government bureaucrats like David Leahy are transforming Miami-Dade into the new Selma of the South, where law-abiding citizens are brazenly denied their right to vote, in much the same way Bull Connor did in Alabama in the 1960s," declared Nathaniel Wilcox, spokesman for Communities Strengthening Families for the Good Life and Take Back Miami-Dade Cochairman.

"David Leahy is an embarrassment to our community and to Mayor Penelas' Administration. He has violated the public trust and is trying to get away with it. His shameless conduct sets a very dangerous precedent," Armesto-Garcia added.

Leahy will have to meet face to face with the citizens whose signatures he rejected and explain to them what law, statute or ordinance compelled him to arbitrarily violate their right to have their signature counted.

Last year, Take Back Miami-Dade citizen-volunteers collected over 51,000 signatures, 16,000 MORE than the law required, petitioning FOR a referendum on the County's highly controversial " orientation" amendment.

While Leahy continues to openly abuse his authority in shameless contempt for the Rule of Law, Take Back Miami-Dade continues to defend the people's constitutional right to a referendum and demands a civil, respectful and community-wide dialogue on the entire " orientation" issue. Take Back Miami-Dade believes Miami-Dade should NOT be run as a "Banana Republic."

CHRISTIAN COALITION FORCES SAVE DADE TO REMOVE BOYS SCOUT
LOGO FROM ITS WEBSITE

After raising serious objections to the South Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America concerning the unauthorized use of its copyrighted logo, SAVE Dade, a ist group operating in the Miami-Dade County area was forced to remove the Boy Scout logo off its website on Tuesday, July 24th.

A statement issued in March 2001, by M. Anthony Burns and Jeffrie Herrmann stated, South Florida Council and the Boy Scouts of America will vigorously object and prosecute any outside group that attempts to use copyrighted BSA identification to imply endorsement of their political agenda by our movement.

The question on the table now is, will M. Anthony Burns and Jeffrie Herrmann honor their word and prosecute SAVE Dade for unauthorized use of their logo as their statement indicates, or was all of this just a scare tactic to silence people of faith?, said Anthony Verdugo, Miami-Dade Christian Coalition Chairman. According to Verdugo, if a pro-family group had been found guilty of copyright infringement by the Boy Scouts, the pro-family group probably would have been prosecuted.

Miami-Dade County Elections Department Halts Full Recount of Petition Signatures

MIAMI, FL - In a stunning turn of events, Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections, David Leahy, backed down on his promise to conduct a full count of all the 51,026 petition signatures submitted on Friday, December 1st, 2000, to place the orientation amendment on the ballot.

After conducting two random samples and discarding thirty-eight (38) voters due to so-called signature differences, Mr. Leahy announced he would conduct a full hand count in order to determine the sufficiency of the petition, however, Florida requires him to continue using the random sample method.

We are obviously pleased that Mr. Leahy followed the advice of our attorneys, regarding the law in Florida, and decided to halt the full recount of the signatures, however, he must now recognize the validity of the signatures he threw out, and certify this petition, said Anthony Verdugo, Chairman, of the Miami-Dade County Christian Coalition.

We have sworn affidavits from a majority of the voters whose signatures were thrown out, indicating that they indeed did sign the petition, furthermore, the Miami Herald conducted an independent review indicating that at least twenty-four (24) of those signatures were valid and sufficient to certify the petition according to Verdugo.

"FAITH IN GOD ISN'T WHAT'S WRONG WITH AMERICA;

IT'S WHAT'S RIGHT WITH AMERICA."