> 1) Fiore wins as gay majority elected to Wilton Manors council
> Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
>
> 2) Opponents of gay rights law seek signatures to force vote
> Miami Herald
>
> 3) Dead cameraman's family, partner battling over property
> Miami Herald
>
> *************************************************************
>
> Fiore wins as gay majority elected to Wilton Manors council
>
> By CHRISTY McKERNEY Sun-Sentinel
> Web-posted: 11:22 p.m. Mar. 14, 2000
>
> JOHN R. FIORE: 1,348, 56.69%
> SANDRA "SANDY" STEEN: 1,030, 43.31%
>
> WILTON MANORS--Voters on Tuesday night swept John Fiore into
> the mayor's seat, giving Wilton Manors the second openly gay
> majority city council in the country, according to one national gay
> organization.
>
> Fiore easily defeated former Mayor Sandy Steen.
>
> Fiore, reached about 9 p.m. at his parents' Wilton Manors home,
> said he was "extremely relieved."
>
> "I'm very drained. I'm glad it's over," he said.
>
> Fiore joins councilman-elect Craig Sherritt, a local attorney, who ran
> unopposed. Council member Gary Resnick, who joined the council in
> 1998, is also gay.
>
> Fiore credited his victory to a very strong campaign. "I think a lot of
> it's also because the residents have been happy with the city and in
> the direction that the city has been going."
>
> Steen conceded gracefully, thanking her supporters. "It's not been
> an ugly race. I have no regrets. I'm glad that the people of Wilton
> Manors had a choice."
>
> She said low voter turnout and the ability of the gay community to
> get out the vote and further an agenda contributed to her loss.
>
> Voters at St. Clement Catholic Church this afternoon showed mixed
> opinions.
>
> Some, like Bob Schneider and Jason Halle, voted for Fiore in part
> because they wanted a gay councilman. Schneider said he voted for
> Fiore because he's "a good man" and he would represent the gay
> community.
>
> Halle agreed. "I'm a proud gay man, and I would be very proud to
> live in a city that has elected openly gay officials."
>
> Others, like 30-plus-year residents Sonny and Sarah Belcher, voted
> for Steen because they were dissatisfied with the current council.
> Sonny Belcher said he didn't like the council postponing some
> controversial votes until no one was there.
>
> He liked Steen's reputation, too. "She's been in the public eye and
> nobody's picked on her."
>
> Both candidates have extensive political experience and say they
> support downtown revitalization and more parking.
>
> Steen, 60, works in the Broward County Appraisers office. She was
> mayor from 1990 to 1994, and a longtime councilwoman. Steen
> supported an unsuccessful effort to keep the city's volunteer fire
> department, and she wanted to provide better services for seniors.
>
> The Wilton Manors race has garnered unusual attention from the
> national gay community.
>
> The small city of about 12,000 has an increasing gay population
> and has become a popular spot for gay-owned businesses.
>
> West Hollywood, Calif., is the only other city in the country with an
> openly gay majority on its city council, according to the Washington,
> D.C.-based Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.
>
> Wilton Manors has a five-member council, including the mayor.
>
> Christy McKerney can be reached at cmckerney at sun-sentinel.com or
> 954-572-2008.
>
> *********************************************
>
> Published Wednesday, March 15, 2000, in the Miami Herald
>
> Opponents of gay rights law seek signatures to force
> vote
>
> BY DON FINEFROCK
> dfinefrock at herald.com
>
> Opponents of the Miami-Dade County law banning
> discrimination against gay men and lesbians
> went to the polls Tuesday to collect voter signatures
> in a bid to win their own referendum on the
> controversial issue.
>
> Organizers from Take Back Miami-Dade, the group
> behind the petition drive, said they are pleased
> with the progress of their campaign, but co-chairman
> Nathaniel Wilcox declined to say how many
> signatures have been collected.
>
> ``It's going very well and we are very pleased with
> the pace," said Eladio Jose Armesto, another
> organizer, who is publisher of El Nuevo Patria.
>
> ``I don't think [Tuesday's effort] will put us over the
> top but we are hoping it will give us a boost,"
> Armesto said.
>
> Opponents have until April 7 to collect enough
> signatures to force a referendum on the 1998 county
> law that banned discrimination on the basis of
> someone's sexual orientation. They need signatures
> from 4 percent of the county's voters, or 32,582 people.
>
> Wilcox said the group mobilized more than 300 volunteers
> on Tuesday.
>
> SAVE Dade, the organization that is fighting the repeal
> effort, also put volunteers in the field Tuesday.
>
> Spokesman Jerome Baker said his group had dispatched
> more than 500 volunteers to polling places
> around Miami-Dade to identify sympathetic voters.
>
> In some cases, volunteers from the opposing groups
> were at the same polling places. County
> Election Supervisor David Leahy said his office fielded
> some complaints from voters about over-zealous volunteers.
>
> ``We did get a few calls from people who felt when they
> said no they meant no and they didn't need
> people to follow them to their car," Leahy said.
>
> Overall, though, the day appeared to go smoothly, he said.
>
> A woman from West Kendall complained to The Herald
> that a volunteer from Take Back Miami-Dade was misleading
> voters at her polling place.
>
> Tence Wolfe from the Promenade community on Kendall
> Drive at Southwest 143rd Avenue said the
> volunteer told voters the petition was for ``equal rights."
>
> Wolfe said she was initially confused -- as was another
> woman who signed the petition -- but soon
> realized the volunteer was part of the repeal effort.
>
> ``They are getting signatures by subterfuge," she said.
>
> Armesto said the volunteer may have misspoken, but
> there is no organized effort to mislead voters.
>
> ``The volunteers were given very specific instructions to
> get to the heart of what the issue is and the
> issue is not an ordinance at this point in time. The
> petition is to give the voters an opportunity to
> vote on the issue," he said.
>
> Leahy said election workers try to make sure the
> volunteers stand no closer than 50 feet from the
> doors of the precinct, but otherwise they do not
> control how those volunteers conduct themselves.
>
> He advised voters who might be confused to read
> the petition before signing. The petition clearly
> states the purpose of the campaign.
>
> ``They are signing a document. They should take
> time to read it," Leahy said.
>
> ********************************************************
>
> Published Wednesday, March 15, 2000, in the Miami Herald
>
> Dead cameraman's family, partner battling over property
>
> BY LISA ARTHUR
> larthur at herald.com
>
> A battle over the estate of an WTVJ-NBC 6 cameraman
> killed earlier this month landed in a Broward
> County courtroom Tuesday when his partner asked
> a judge to order the dead man's family to allow
> him back into the house he says the two shared.
>
> Frank Gagliano, 36, says he and Rob Pierce had
> been in a committed relationship for the past four
> years and that they lived together in Pierce's Deerfield
> Beach home for two years.
>
> Pierce, an award-winning television photographer,
> was killed on March 3 when the station's
> helicopter crashed in a Kendall neighborhood.
>
> According to Gagliano's suit, ``the Pierce family chooses
> to deny the fact that Rob was in a committed relationship
> with Frank and was gay.''
>
> Pierce, 34, died without a will. Under Florida law, because
> he did not have a spouse or children, his estate passes to
> his father.
>
> The suit charges that Pierce's family changed the locks on
> the home and refused to give Gagliano access to his belongings.
>
> Broward Circuit Judge Thomas Lynch signed an order
> granting Gagliano the right to stay in the house unless the
> family has him legally evicted. The family also is prohibited
> from removing any additional items from the house and
> must return any of Gagliano's property that has been taken.
>
> The family's attorney said there is no evidence at this point
> that Gagliano has any right to the house or its contents.
>
> ``It's not relevant if they were a couple, and the family has
> no position on that,'' said Joy Carr. ``Frank does not have a lease.
> He is not on the deed or on the utility bills. The name on everything
> is Robert Pierce, solely. He has to prove that he has a financial
> interest.''
>
> Gagliano said his relationship with Pierce was relevant despite
> the lack of a will.
>
> ``There needs to be some legislation,'' he said. ``If we were
> married and he died without a will this would not be happening.
> I loved this man more than anything else. I would go to the end of
> the world for him as he did for me. He went to work one day, and
> I didn't get him back. And now I don't even know where his ashes
> are.''
>
> Though Broward County's human rights ordinance allows
> same-sex domestic partners to register with the county,
> Pierce and Gagliano had not done so.
>
> Gagliano's attorney, Elizabeth Schwartz, says her client's
> experience is common among same-sex
> couples and should serve as a warning.
>
> ``Everyone should be clear of their intentions; everyone
> should have a will,'' Schwartz said. ``Families should not be
> able to come in and deprive partners of their right to live in their
> home and bury their loved ones.''
>
> Carr agreed on one point.
>
> ``You need to have a will,'' she said.
>
> Herald Staff writer Caroline J. Keough contributed to this report.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------