Registering to vote has probably never been the primary reason anyone attended Pride in the Park, but it was an option in recent years.
That ended with the June 14 event, held at Munn Park in downtown Lakeland.
A participant said that the Polk County Supervisor of Elections Office informed him less than 24 hours before the gathering began that it would not be staffing a voter-registration table, as expected.
David Jones said that he arranged months in advance to reserve a space for the elections office at the event. Pride in the Park is a celebration of LGBTQ residents and culture, though it is open to all and typically draws thousands.
Jones said he communicated for months with the elections office to confirm that it would staff a voter-registration table at Pride in the Park. Though vendors rent space at the gathering, Polk Pride offers space to the Supervisor of Elections Office at no charge, he said.
Late in the afternoon on June 13, Jones missed a call from someone with the elections office, he said. A voicemail asked him to call the office.
The next morning, as Jones was driving to Munn Park, a staff member with the elections office called again, and Jones’ husband answered. The employee said that the Supervisor of Elections Office would not be staffing a table after all, Jones said.
As an explanation, the staff member said the office was “expecting trouble” at Pride in the Park, Jones said.
Bell: Avoiding political events
The late notice made it impossible to arrange with a third-party organization to handle voter registration at the event, Jones said. It also prevented Polk Pride from renting out the space it had reserved for the Supervisor of Elections Office.
In response to questions, Supervisor of Elections Melony Bell explained her decision not to send an outreach team to Pride in the Park.
“The decision to not attend was made based upon reports, by media outlets, of the political atmosphere surrounding the events occurring in downtown Lakeland that day,” Bell said by email. “In keeping with our mission, at the Supervisor of Elections Office, I enacted a policy that does not allow for our office to attend political functions. I felt that it was best for our office not to attend in adherence with this policy. As always, our office is more than happy to attend events that are not of a political nature.”
Polk Pride is the event name affiliated with the Lakeland Youth Alliance, part of the Orlando Youth Alliance, a nonprofit organization. Under federal guidelines, the OYA’s tax-exempt status places strict limitations on its political activities.
A political event did take place on June 14 at Munn Park — the “No Kings” rally, a demonstration opposing President Donald Trump’s policies. That separate and unrelated gathering was scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., two and a half hours after Pride in the Park ended.
Jones dismissed as “hogwash” Bell’s suggestion that Pride in the Park is a political event.
“Republicans are welcome to get a space down there,” he said. “Libertarians have gotten a space down there. And if there were such a thing as Log Cabin Republicans here in Polk County, they would have been more than welcome, or any Republican organization, but they chose not to go there.”
Pride leader disputes description
Polk Pride President Scott Guira also asserted that Pride in the Park is not political.
“Polk Pride in the Park is an event open to, and for the benefit of, the entire community,” Guira said in a text message. “This space is offered free because we encourage everyone to have their voice heard by voting. The prior Supervisor of Elections participated in this event for years and shared that same perspective. The only change is Melony Bell.”
The Lakeland Police Department made no arrests at this year’s Pride in the Park, spokesperson Stephanie Kerr said.
Bell’s office provided a list of “outreach events” attended by staff members this year. Among the dozens of events, none appeared to be overtly political.
The list includes visits to assisted living facilities, libraries, and nonprofit groups, along with appearances at Martin Luther King Jr. Day parades, the Polk County Youth Fair, and a Renaissance festival.
The office has held one event at a church, HighPoint Church in Lake Wales. The senior pastor, Jack Hilligoss, is the mayor of Lake Wales and active in conservative political organizing.