In Sunrise, the sun never sets on city politics 8 have opened campaigns

Though the next City Commission election is 10 months away, eight people have opened campaign accounts for three seats.

Two commissioners are running for mayor. Six newcomers are running for commissioner.

But why so soon?

``I guess just to let people know that I'm in the race,'' said David Hohman, who's running for incumbent Commissioner Fran Klauber's seat against teacher Barry Silver and Sheila Alu. As of Monday afternoon, Klauber had not yet opened a campaign account. Hohman, 48, is a relative latecomer to the commission scramble. He filed April 9. Hohman has lived in the city for about a decade and runs his own real-estate appraisal business there.

Lori Glasser has been running for Commissioner Dan Pearl's seat for more than six months. She opened her campaign account Oct. 18, right after Pearl announced he was running for mayor. Mayor Steve Effman is running for state Rep. Steve Feren's, D-Sunrise, seat in the Legislature.

``I was ready to file as soon as I heard that the mayor was seeking higher office,'' Glasser said. ``I wanted to give the incumbents the opportunity to decide where they were going because I was not going to run against any of the incumbents.''

Glasser, 49, is president of the Gold Coast Democratic Club and just came back from a trip to Tallahassee to speak to the state Legislature on health-care issues. She is running against civic activists Marty Rubinstein and Joseph Scuotto.

Rubinstein, 46, is information services manager for BrandsMart USA. ``I could file early and get into the swing of things or I could file late and no one would know me,'' said Rubinstein, who has been a member of the planning and zoning board for about three years.

Having campaigned for most of the commissioners on the dais, Scuotto said he didn't want to run against any of them if he could help it. So he opened a campaign account March 7 for the seat being vacated by Pearl.

``Everybody that's in there knows our family,'' he said of the commission. Scuotto, 29, is vice president of the family business: Michael Anthony's Designs. A manufacturer of ceramic accessories, vases and wrought-iron stands, the company sells its wares to businesses all over the nation.

At every commission meeting, one or more candidates, wearing large campaign badges, are likely to stand up and speak during the time allotted for open discussion.

The politicking isn't confined to the speaker's podium at meetings, however. On the dais are two commissioners who often don't see eye to eye and are both running for mayor: Pearl and Roger Wishner. Pearl opened his account on Oct. 13, the day Effman announced he was running for Feren's seat. Wishner opened his on the next business day, Oct. 16.

Pearl said this isn't unusual for him.

``Oh, what's a year and a half?'' he asked. ``My campaigns have generally started early enough so that everybody knows where I stand.''

Pearl, 86, has been a city commissioner in Sunrise since 1985, including a stint as mayor. He is a retired New York state corrections officer.

Wishner said Effman's early announcement for Feren's seat sped things up.

``The faster you announce, the more people know exactly what your intentions are,'' Wishner said. ``You don't want to get lost in the shuffle. There is a very, very important race.''

Wishner, 38, is a health-care consultant who has served on the commission since 1987.

As of late Monday, Alu was the newest entrant in the race, having opened her account Friday. Alu, 33, is the wife of Plantation police officer Joseph Alu, who was badly burned in an explosion while on duty in that city last year.

Sheila Alu became an activist in the succeeding months, successfully lobbying Plantation to pay family health-care benefits for disabled officers who are forced to retire. She has lobbied on the same issue before the Sunrise City Commission, the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress.

``It's not something Joe and I plotted,'' Alu said of her candidacy and activism. She considered running for a while, even thought about running against Effman for Feren's state seat, but finally decided to aim at Klauber's seat.

Hohman, one of her opponents, has thought about running for office since the late '80s. Now seemed the right time, he said.

``Once Mr. Effman leaves, I think there's going to be a lack of leadership,'' Hohman said.

Scuotto has his own guess as to why the field already is so full.

``It's just a very political city,'' he said.