Miami Herald

Published Tuesday, December 4, 2001

Several police advocates to boycott Reno talk

BY PETER WALLSTEN pwallsten@herald.com

TALLAHASSEE -- Several leading Miami-Dade law enforcement advocates plan to boycott a campaign appearance tonight by Janet Reno, claiming the former U.S. attorney general ``allowed the jaws of corruption to choke the very community she claims to adore.''

Reno, a Democratic candidate for governor in 2002 and the former Dade state attorney, is scheduled to speak to the 200 Club of Dade County, a group of businesspeople who offer support to families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

In a scathing letter to the business group, the head of the local Police Benevolent Association said that he and other PBA representatives would not attend the event because Reno was the featured speaker.

``Despite the image that Ms. Reno portrays, she has never been a friend to law enforcement nor a supporter of its causes,'' said PBA President John Rivera, a Republican who has been a frequent critic of current Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle.

The PBA has not been a friend to Democratic gubernatorial candidates in the past. The group supported Republican Gov. Jeb Bush both in 1994, when he lost to Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, and again in 1998 when he won the Governor's Mansion.

Reno, who is the front-runner in a field of four credible candidates seeking the Democratic nomination, was at a fundraiser late Monday and could not be reached.

A campaign spokeswoman declined to comment on Rivera's boycott.

MATTER OF FAIRNESS

Ben Bennett, president of the 200 Club, said late Monday that the group invited Reno to speak to its dinner at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables as a matter of fairness. Bush addressed the group as a candidate for governor in his previous campaign.

``She's [a] candidate for governor,'' Bennett said. ``We decided this was a very timely thing to do.''

RENO'S RECORD

The PBA boycott reflects the emotional response Reno often receives as a gubernatorial candidate and underlines perhaps her biggest weakness: her controversial record.

While Reno's strength is her popularity among Democratic loyalists in South Florida and her anticipated ability to mobilize black voters, women and seniors on Election Day, Republicans hope to hold her at bay among moderates by questioning her record.

Reno's critics look to capitalize by criticizing her record as attorney general in the Clinton administration, citing her involvement in the government's raid of the Branch Davidian complex near Waco, Texas, her decision to send Elián González to live with his father in Cuba and her decision against launching an investigation of the fundraising practices by the Clinton-Gore campaign. Rick Kolodgy, vice president of the Miami-Dade PBA, said the group was mainly concerned with her treatment of police during her tenure as the county's lead prosecutor.

``She's never been pro-law enforcement, and we've never been pro-Janet Reno,'' he said.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001