Brook, Capplis, Edden, Holmes, Levi, Metayer and Simmons.
Whether Coral Springs should display a Hanukkah menorah outside City Hall alongside its annual Christmas tree, how candidates should confront antizionist bigotry, and concerns over Amendment 3 were among the issues debated Sunday at a candidate forum hosted by Chabad Jewish Center of Coral Springs.
The question of Jewish representation at City Hall exposed a longstanding controversy over religious expression on city property. Commissioner Joshua Simmons, who is running for mayor against incumbent Scott Brook, raised concerns that allowing a menorah outside City Hall could also open the door to Satanic displays. His concerns come against the backdrop of years of legal challenges by South Florida atheist activist Chaz Stevens, who has demanded equal access for Satanic prayers and displays at government facilities.
In 2015, Coral Springs ended religious invocations at commission meetings after Stevens, who has brought multiple court challenges against government institutions for religious displays, sought permission to deliver a Satanic prayer. The city, however, continued its annual display of a Christmas tree under the legal theory it is not a religious display.
Multiple municipalities across Broward County display menorahs at their respective City Hall properties during Hanukkah.
The candidate forum also brought scrutiny of Seat 4 candidate Jeff Adelman’s endorsement by Emgage Action, a Muslim American political advocacy organization that accuses Israel of “genocide,” advocates boycotts and sanctions against the Jewish state, and refuses to endorse candidates funded by or aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. It has also cut ties with a Jewish organization that seeks to build ties between Jews and Muslims.
Adelman’s opponent, Jennifer Levi, said she declined to pursue Emgage Action’s endorsement after noticing the framing of questions on its candidate questionnaire.
“One question asked whether criticism of Israel’s policy equates to antisemitism. It gave me pause because I do not believe that such a complex issue can be reduced to a simple answer,” Levi said.
She added: “Criticizing a government’s policies is not inherently antisemitism, but criticism can cross the line when it invokes antisemitism, holds Jewish people collectively responsible for Israel’s actions, and denies Jewish people rights afforded to others. And that distinction matters.”
The debate unfolded amid the rise of a global antizionist movement that has increasingly brought anti-Israel campaigns into local politics since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel and ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Bigoted incidents targeting Jews, a majority of them linked to antizionism, have since reached unprecedented levels in the U.S.
Chabad of Coral Springs Rabbi Yankie Denburg moderated Sunday night’s forum ahead of the Nov. 3 municipal election. Seven candidates participated: Simmons, Adelman, Levi, and Seat 3 candidates William “Bill” Capplis, Kohy Holmes, Terry Ann Williams Edden, and Marly Metayer.
Metayer is the mother of slain Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen, who was found fatally shot at her home April 1. Metayer is running for the commission seat previously held by her daughter.
Incumbent Mayor Scott Brook, whose stepson recently died, did not participate. Seat 3 candidate Erick Nyatenya and Seat 4 candidate Tristan Celestin also were absent, as was Commissioner Shawn Cerra, who is unopposed for Seat 2.
Denburg opened the forum by discussing anti-Jewish bigotry and the responsibility of elected officials to respond when Jewish residents and other community members face threats or discrimination.
“The words that the leaders of our community use matter,” he said. “The way they respond when any community feels threatened or marginalized matters.”
William “Bill” Capplis, Terry Ann Williams Edden, Jeff Adelman, Joshua Simmons, Kohy Holmes, Jennifer Levy, and Marly Metayer. {YouTube}
Menorah at City Hall divides candidates
Coral Springs displays a Christmas tree and holiday lights on city property but does not include a menorah. Denburg asked whether the candidates would support displaying a menorah alongside the Christmas tree outside City Hall and including Hanukkah programming in Coral Springs’ annual Downtown in December celebration.
He said the city’s Dec. 5 event schedule, as he had recently reviewed it, did not include a Hanukkah celebration, despite the holiday beginning at sundown Dec. 4.
Adelman supported displaying a menorah, saying the city’s Jewish community was among the reasons his family moved to Coral Springs.
“I don’t believe in dimming people’s joy just because somebody wants to cause trouble, so to me, that’s something that is important to the community, and it’s something that I would support,” Adelman said.
Capplis, a recently retired Coral Springs police sergeant, also supported the display. He described providing security for menorah lightings and a parade featuring vehicles carrying menorahs, while acknowledging the legal questions surrounding religious displays.
Simmons, who has regularly attended Chabad menorah lighting ceremonies, said he understood why Jewish residents wanted the holiday recognized at City Hall.
“I think it’s important for leadership to show up for everyone in their city,” Simmons said.
But he questioned whether opening the City Hall lawn to religious displays could require the city to accommodate displays it would otherwise reject.
“Turning the grand lawn into an open forum, to where we would have other entities there, such as something where children have to learn about the devil. It’s hard for me to get past,” Simmons said.
Simmons also discussed the possibility of displaying a Nativity scene.
“The issue for me as well as my faith, I would love to have a nativity scene, maybe even a Black Jesus,” Simmons said.
He acknowledged that any decision would require action by the commission.
“If I’m still there, I’m only one vote,” he said.
Holmes also expressed support for a menorah but questioned how the city could accommodate Jewish religious expression without opening the door to a Satanic display.
Levi gave unequivocal support for including a menorah outside City Hall.
“I wholeheartedly support this,” she said.
“As a mom of a son with profound autism,” she added, “I know how it feels to be excluded, and I like to say my son might be nonverbal, but his mother is not. And so, when there is a will, there is a way.”
Levi argued that Coral Springs should be able to find a workable solution with guidance from the city attorney.
Metayer also supported accommodating Jewish holiday traditions. Drawing on her nursing experience with Jewish families, she discussed the importance of allowing residents to observe and celebrate their religious customs while addressing any legal questions.
Emgage endorsement draws scrutiny
The forum’s discussion of antizionism centered on Emgage Action’s endorsement of Adelman. Although city commissions have no authority over U.S. foreign policy, antizionist organizations have pursued municipal resolutions, boycotts, divestment measures, and political endorsements designed to pressure elected officials into disavowing Israel.
Denburg challenged candidates over Emgage’s opposition to Israel and its policies toward candidates who support the U.S.-Israel relationship.
“Number one, we’re not against the Muslim community,” Denburg said. “And the second part of the same question is, the Jewish community feels very threatened by many people that deny Israel’s right to defend itself,” he said.
Emgage Action’s endorsement criteria exclude candidates who are “funded by or aligned with AIPAC or affiliated PAC networks.” AIPAC is an American organization staffed and funded by American Jews and their allies, but has been routinely demonized as a “foreign-influence operation” that “controls” American politicians, echoing racist conspiracy theories about Jews dating back to the Russian Tsarist forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
Emgage supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, known as BDS, which seeks economic, academic, cultural, and diplomatic isolation of Israel and those who support it, including Jewish Americans. Its Israel policy says the organization “challenges Islamophobia and affirms the right to boycott, divest, and sanction, while supporting the Right of Return for all Palestinians.”
The American Jewish Committee has condemned BDS as discriminatory against Jews, arguing that the movement’s leadership seeks to dismantle Israel as a Jewish state.
Demands for a Palestinian “right of return” call for millions of descendants of refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War to be permitted to settle inside Israel. AJC warns that implementing the demand would effectively end Israel’s existence as a Jewish nation-state.
Emgage Action was also among the signatories of an April 2024 letter to President Joe Biden accusing Israel of a “deliberate and wanton campaign of starvation and mass murder” and “genocide.”
The letter incorrectly characterized a January 2024 International Court of Justice ruling as finding South Africa’s allegation of “genocide” plausible. Former ICJ President Joan Donoghue, who presided over the court when it issued the preliminary ruling, subsequently said that characterization was false.
“It didn’t decide that the claim of genocide was plausible,” Donoghue said in an April 2024 BBC interview.
She explained that the court had recognized Palestinians’ plausible rights to protection under the Genocide Convention. The decision was not a ruling on whether Israel had committed “genocide.”
Emgage Action’s legislative priorities include withholding offensive weapons from Israel and restoring U.S. funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA. In June 2026, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s inspector general referred 108 current or former UNRWA personnel for suspension or debarment over participation in the October 7 attacks or affiliation with Hamas.
The organization has received millions of dollars from George Soros’s Open Society funding network, among other left-wing groups.
Adelman defends endorsement
Adelman defended his acceptance of Emgage Action’s endorsement, saying it demonstrated his willingness to engage with Muslim residents rather than agreement with every position taken by the organization.
“My only reason for accepting that endorsement is so that the Muslim community also feels seen, because they are entitled to that as well,” Adelman said. “Now, look, some of the things, Rabbi, that you brought up, I obviously do not agree with those things, and I don’t agree with everything in an organization, or all the people that are in an organization.”
Adelman compared accepting Emgage Action’s support to receiving an endorsement from Realtors despite disagreeing with their position on Amendment 3, the property-tax measure on Florida’s November ballot.
“So, what my reasoning is, I want people to feel that they’re welcome in our community, whether they be Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Hindu. Everybody is welcome here, but just because you have an endorsement does not mean that you abide by every single tenet of what a group says or what their members say, and again, if there’s something that’s antisemitic, I’ll speak out and I’ll speak out against Islamophobia as well,” Adelman said.
“People need to know that from their leaders that they’re not just going to stand up for what they are, that they’re going to stand up for what the community is,” he said.
Emgage Action does not explicitly endorse a two-state solution or recognize Israel as a Jewish state in its published Israel-Palestine policy platform. According to Pew Research Center findings published in April 2025, 56 percent of Muslim American adults believed Israel and an independent Palestinian state could coexist peacefully, compared with 43 percent who disagreed.
Emgage has also faced a bitter dispute over its relationships with major Jewish organizations. In October 2020, the organization announced it had no joint programming with the Anti-Defamation League or American Jewish Committee after Palestinian and Muslim activists condemned its previous collaboration with the groups.
The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, however, said Emgage had not gone far enough. The council announced that Emgage was no longer a member, criticizing its refusal to pledge an end to all direct collaboration with the Jewish organizations.
Emgage has also faced controversy over its opposition to participation in the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Muslim Leadership Initiative (MLI), a program intended to promote understanding between American Muslims and Jews, including education about Israel’s role in Jewish identity.
Under pressure from fellow antizionist activists, Emgage co-founder and former national chair Khurrum Wahid apologized in 2020 for participating in the initiative, calling his involvement “a wrong decision.” Emgage later adopted resolutions barring staff and board members in its organizations from participating in the program.
Wahid has contributed money to Simmons’ mayoral campaign, donating $250 on Sept. 12, 2026, according to campaign finance records. Two former Emgage Action officials have also donated to Simmons’ campaign, records show, though the organization itself has not endorsed him.
Adelman reiterated that his acceptance of Emgage Action’s endorsement reflected his willingness to hear Muslim constituents, regardless of his disagreements with some of Emgage Action’s positions.
“Again, I am proud of that endorsement because it represents to me that I am letting people know that I will listen, and it’s something that’s important as a Jew for us to know that for them to know that I am going to also listen to them, but certain things, obviously, I’m not going to agree with.”
Adelman also discussed his participation in the Anti-Defamation League’s Glass Leadership Initiative in 2017, his trip to Washington to lobby against antisemitism, and his work helping organize events associated with the ADL’s No Place for Hate initiative.
Levi emphasized her own family’s ties to Israel and Jewish communal life. Her husband was born in Israel, and she described the local Chabad as her congregation.
“For me, this is not just another candidate forum. This is my shul,” she said.
“Our Jewish heritage, our traditions, and this community are an important part of us,” Levi said.
She pledged to be “an advocate for religious freedom, safety, and inclusion for every resident.”
“And tonight, I’m grateful to be here, not just as a candidate, but as your neighbor, your friend, and a member of this community,” she said.
Simmons recounts backlash over support for Jews after October 7
Simmons, a former teacher, discussed his experience teaching the Holocaust and said his knowledge of his own family’s history shaped his reaction to discrimination against other communities.
He said he supported issuing a city statement backing Jewish residents following Hamas’s October 7 attacks and faced criticism for doing so.
“I received some phone calls from people that didn’t like it. I got into arguments,” Simmons said.
He distinguished criticism of a government’s policies from hostility directed against people because of their identity.
“Just like I don’t agree with the war in Iran right now, I don’t want to be beholden to what my leaders are doing if I’m not okay with it, and that’s where I came from,” Simmons said.
Denburg asked Simmons whether he thought the broader Coral Springs community understood the slaughter of October 7 and its continuing impact on Jewish residents.
“Do you think that many of the people in the city understand what happened on October 7 and understand why the Jewish community feels as it does?” Denburg asked.
Simmons said he hoped discussions within the city had helped educate residents, but described facing hostility on the campaign trail when he refused to condemn the Jewish community.
“I’ve had doors slammed in my face because I didn’t answer the question that I think someone wanted me to demonize our Jewish community. I had doors slammed in my face, but I still went there to be honest about who we are as a community,” Simmons said.
Capplis also talked about protecting houses of worship and responding to demonstrations during his police career.
“Whenever there were protests, I was at the front of the line,” he said. “So seeing it firsthand gives you a totally different perspective.”
Candidates debate Florida’s property-tax amendment
The forum also featured debate over broader municipal issues like Amendment 3, the proposed Florida constitutional amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot that would substantially reduce property taxes on primary residences while cutting revenue available to local governments.
The measure would increase the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with inflation adjustments thereafter. It would also reduce the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties from 10 percent to 5 percent and impose additional limits on how counties and municipalities spend property-tax revenue.
The tax reductions would not apply to school district property taxes.
Supporters say the amendment would provide significant relief to homeowners facing rising housing costs. Opponents warn that reduced revenues could force cities and counties to cut services, increase other taxes and fees, or delay infrastructure improvements.
The measure requires approval from at least 60 percent of voters to become part of the Florida Constitution.
Adelman, Simmons, and Metayer expressed opposition to the measure. Holmes supported tax relief through the proposal, while Williams Edden highlighted the financial strain currently on seniors and residents with fixed incomes. Levi supported the measure’s goal of tax relief but questioned how other public services would continue to be financed.
If the budget crunch happens, Capplis proposed the city review its spending on travel, conferences, purchasing, take-home vehicles, and the replacement of city vehicles and equipment before reducing essential services.
Metayer said the city’s parks, appearance, and public safety were among the reasons she moved to Coral Springs and argued that protecting those services should be a priority.
“As a commissioner I will begin by protecting essential services such as public safety, emergency response, infrastructure, and services that directly affect their lives,” she said.
YouTube coverage of the debate can be seen on YouTube.
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