SURFSIDE POLITICS
Surfside is a small beach town sandwiched between Miami Beach and Bal Harbour. Before the tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South condominium in 2021, perhaps few had heard of it. Now, the vitriolic conduct on the town commission often makes headlines.
As bad as things are, they recently became far nastier. Town Mayor Shlomo Danzinger accused me, at the Dec. 12 commission meeting, of being an anti-Semite, brandishing with McCarthy-esque bravado emails supporting his false charge.
The emails were an exchange between town residents, the town manager and myself. At issue were the large banners placed on a construction fence supporting the release of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in October. Residents were concerned that the signs violated the town’s sign code (which they did).
An email response from the manager spoke of his removing such signs from public property, the aggressive behavior by some residents to town employees when they did so, and his permitting the temporary placement of the signs on the construction fence to mitigate the issue. He clearly was admitting to a complex issue and his efforts to find a way through it.
Nothing in the exchange was antisemitic. On Dec. 21, the mayor issued an email doubling down on his accusation, which also prominently displayed an image of the gate to Auschwitz, and continued attacking me. Both are desperate attempts to rally support from his base.
Surfside is a diverse community. All feel welcome here. Using hate to divide our community has no place in our local politics. While it is becoming more customary in national politics, this is the first time I have witnessed its use so flagrantly here. I call on my neighbors and residents to tell the mayor
to stick to the issues.
– Marianne Meischeid, – commissioner, – Town of Surfside