It’s not just Sweetwater.
From Little Havana to Homestead, Miami Gardens to Hialeah, elected
officials often publicize Farm Share distributions in their districts or cities and attend the events — when they really aren’t needed there — to connect the bags of food with needy families at parks and community centers or even parking lots.
Sweetwater’s food distribution is in the news because they recently had an election and one of the candidates, the newly-elected Mayor Orlando Lopez, complained that his opponent, then Mayor Jose Diaz, and some council members were using the food distribution to gather absentee ballots.
The investigation did not find sufficient evidence that Diaz was seeking ABs as he distributed the Farm Share bags, but they did recommend that the non-profit agency — which receives monies to operate from federal and state grants — “terminate its relationship with the city and use local religious or non-profit organizations to provide food to needy residents to reduce the temptations of politicians to exploit this opportunity.”
Ethics Commission Director Joe Centorino told Ladra in an email that “these types of distributions are inherently problematic when elected officials are distributing goods on behalf of a non-profit agency or in a city sponsored event, particularly during campaign season. The possibility for abuse with a suggestion that the elected official is somehow to be credited with the distribution is an obvious issue.”
But guess what? About six weeks after that recommendation, Farm Share had another event in Sweetwater. 
And this time, it was Mayor Orlando Lopez and his ally, Councilwoman Isolina Maroño, acting as the traffic cops directing thousands of residents who stood in line for the bags of groceries to the first table to sign in at the Jorge Mas Canosa Community Center.
Were they needed there? No. There were dozens of Farm Share employees or volunteers in official t-shirts that could have done the job. In fact, whenever Lopez and Maroño where directing traffic, there was someone official from the organization next to them anyway.
And there was State Rep. Frank Artiles, who didn’t have any concerns about the city officials exploiting anything.
“That was a problem before. The previous administration was abusing the program,” Artiles said.
It was also five days after the city council passed an ordinance prohibiting elected officials from being involved in food distributions. Councilwoman Idania Llanio proposed the law saying residents that get food from a candidate or elected “then feel obligated to vote” for him or her. Maroño was the only vote against the ordinance.
So why were they there on July 11? To exploit the opportunity, obviously.
“This is totally different,” Lopez told me standing at the front of the line 
with a blue polo emblazoned with his name and title as he told groups of three and four that they could move forward to claim their prize. “They were telling people that this was coming from the mayor’s office. We’re not saying that.”
But wasn’t he?
Ladra asked 12 people in the line if they knew who had organized this and brought this food here. Seven people said either el alcalde or la concejal Marono were responsible for the event. Two people said Farm Share. Three people didn’t know.
It doesn’t have to be spoken, the electeds know they are getting credit for something they didn’t do.
Centorino told Ladra that the commission “will be following this up with a letter making a recommendation to Farm Share that this be avoided, but it will be non-binding. There is no automatic ethics violation where an elected official makes such distributions, only when they cross over into a political statement.”
But Sweetwater is not the only place where they Farm Share is joined by electeds who don’t have to be there. The food-for-votes scam — whether its for absentee ballots or votes down the line (wink, wink, nod, nod) — is rampant.
Last weekend, Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, Sen. Rene Garcia and State Rep. Bryan Avila “hosted” a Farm Share distribution in East Hialeah. 
It is such an opportunity, that Commissioner Esteban Bovo and Hialeah Councilmen Luis Gonzalez and Paul “Pablitiquito” Hernandez also showed up.
“Today was a HUGE success! Thank you @FarmShareFL & everyone that came out to help feed Florida’s families! #1000Meals,” Avila tweeted with four photos from the event, including one in which he is shaking hands with voters, er, I mean needy people who are already humbled enough by standing in line for food.
Sosa posted a 13-second video on Twitter.
In October, she put out a press release from her office, titled “Chairwoman Sosa and Farm Share feed more than 650 families.” She was quoted in it: “It was a blessing to team up with Farm Share once again to help needy families in our community continue to be able to put food on the table.”
But what did she do? Show up?
Sosa is not the only one. Commissioners Bovo, Dennis Moss and Juan Zapata each had their own Farm Share distributions within the last few months.
Farm Share’s director of operations, Virginia Reynolds, would not tell 
Ladra if they call the electeds or if the elected officials call them. She said the nonprofit’s director, Patricia Robbins, would have to answer all that. But Robbins has not returned the call. They dodged Miami Herald reporters, too.
At the Sweetwater distribution July 11, Farm Share USDA Director Alfio Ferrea said the organization distributed about 33 million pounds of food last year through more than 100 different agencies, including churches and organziations — and cities and county commission offices. “I don’t look at who is doing it,” Ferrea told Ladra.
The problem is that the clients, or people receiving the food, do look at who is doing it.
The organization should take it upon itself to prohibit all elected officials from taking part in future distributions like this. If they want to volunteer, they can volunteer, to dole out bags of food in a district where voters do not vote for them and wearing Farm Share volunteer t-shirts instead of emblazoned polos that make it look like an official duty as an elected representative.
It’s not a duty. It’s, to quote the ethics commission, an exploited opportunity.
And Kudos to Alex Dominguez, an unsuccessful candidate for county property appraiser and for Miami city commissioner before that, who has stayed actively involved in community issues, like public housing standards, between campaigns — which is more than you can say for some electeds. Even before the Ethic Commission inquiry, Dominguez has been blasting this practice, calling it for the self-promotional political propaganda and exploitation that it is.
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It was Lynda Bell who threw a fit when a truck with a huge sign for her opponent parked nearby when she was handing out food at the government center. She, or a supporter, went so far as to call the police over to make the guy move the truck.
Cutler Bay’s Peggy Bell was there as well making sure she did not miss out on the opportunity to get votes by passing out food exploiting needy, hungry residents.
What’s worse is that when the event ended boxes of leftover produce was piled in and around the dumpsters. If the event was really about feeding the hungry these elected officials would have made sure the leftovers made it to a soup kitchen instead of going into the trash.
Frank Artiles is a GREAT public Servant, when he does Farm share he “works”, he gets there at 6am and doesn’t stop helping until it ends, he does not make it political, He also wears a Farm Share Shit.
Ladra,
How many people participating as recipients in Foodshare are citizens?
The issue of trading food for votes is APPALLING and any elected official who is caught doing it should be up for at minimum censure, at maximum bribery, etc. And eventually removed from office. NO ONE should even fear they won’t get food if they are not cooperative with the candidate.
On the flip side, as a Jesuit university graduate, where service and the Jesuit Volunteer Corp were a huge part of the community, when I see these elected officials interacting with the needy in a respectful and sincerely service oriented way, call me naive, but it fills me with hope. Additionally, when they bring all those young people to volunteer, it can be a great teaching moment.
I totally get what you are saying, and anyone who participates in the actions you described would be considered despicable by me. However, I do consider the possibility that they just might engage in helping to demonstrate they ALL are part of one community. With the attitude “what you’re going through today, I might be going through tomorrow”. Being understanding, caring, and respectful. People still get a big kick out of seeing elected officials. Not you or I but some people still do think they are the equivalent of rockstars. 🙂
How about if we ask the elected officials NOT to do Farmshare in their district, but in another district? They should be willing to do that.
When Joe Centorino finds an ethical problem, you know it’s bad!
Last year, State Rep David Richardson “sponsored” a Farm Share event in North Bay Village to support his endorsed mayoral candidate. It got publicity but there have been no events in the current non-election year. Apparently hunger has been solved by the election.
It’s simply using public funds to support private political causes and Farm Share should just cut it out.
“Today was a HUGE success! Thank you @FarmShareFL & everyone that came out to help feed Florida’s families! #1000Meals,” Avila tweeted -”
YES a “Huge Success” for Bryan Avila
Questions
Why do governments (using taxpayer dollars) give to charities?
Shouldn’t that be an individuals decision as to which charity to give to?
If I get a tax break for a contribution to a charity shouldn’t I also get a tax break if my tax dollars are given to a charity?
These POS politicians that take our tax dollars and then use it for shameless self-promotion, if that’s not an ethics violation then nothing is.
I don’t put the blame on the non-profit, they are doing good work. It is the shamelessness of politicians. Where I live, it is all about the turkey handouts. “I’m voting for so-and-so because he gave me a free turkey.” This is a sad business when politicians are willing to garner votes with “free” food and the electorate are naive enough to believe politicians actually bought and paid for those turkeys.We know who the turkeys are and they aren’t the ones made more palatable with a little cranberry sauce.
LOL.. Last year at a public park or maybe it was the government center.. The incumbent was there grandstanding a Farm Share giveaway and her opponent drove up with a big campaign trailer parking next to the public venue. All pretense of civility disappeared as the incumbent tried to have the police, then code enforcement haul the offending trailer away.. I think Ladra even did a story on it…
But on some level it’s a Faustian bargain, the CBO need the politicians’ support for their budget and the commissioners use the CBO as organizing tools. At least there is a fig leaf of transparency.
The real abuse is when elected officials use public resources to sponsor these thinly veiled reelection events directly, ie the aformetioned turkey give aways, book bag day, neighborhood church picnic ect . While the press release notes the turkeys, book bags, whatever SWAG de jour is donated by the sponsor, the event itself is paid for using public resources, ie the police on overtime, the venue staff, the event production the entertainment ect.. it used to be these “in-kind” expenses came up at every BCC meeting as part of each commissioners’ slush fund but now they seem to buried under some innocuous item title.
Thank you for pointing out this scam. Farm Share was the only community based organization to receive additional dollars during the recession. The county commissioners fell all over themselves trying to jack up the money for the Farm Share group. Should domestic violence groups should hand out free first-aid kits and invite the politicos to distribute them? Scam, scam, scam.