Fact checking the Miami Herald's dubious claims on Education: Over the weekend, I unexpectedly found myself forced to 'school' the Herald's Executive Editor after she bragged about the Herald's coverage of Education. I had to bring up some inconvenient facts rebutting that claim

A Miami Herald vending machine in front of the Denny's restaurant on West Hallandale Beach Blvd., Hallandale Beach, FL, right near one of the city's two infamous red-light cameras. (Now the daily price for a Herald is 75 cents, of course, not the 50 cents depicted in photo.) July 3, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

On Sunday morning, in going thru the Miami Herald's crummy and uninspiring website, mostly  making mental notes about all the stories that should've been present eight weeks before national, state and local elections take place -but WEREN'T-  rather than looking for something in particular that I was expecting to be there, I came up short when I clicked "Opinion" and saw something there that was as objectively false as anything I'd seen in the paper this year. http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/#navlink=navbar

You see it was there that I first came across Herald Executive Editor Aminda Marques' piece about the Herald's coverage of education policy, and in my opinion, bragging about something she had no business bragging about. That is, IF facts and reality matter.
They still do to me, what about you?

If I'd had a few minutes to really think it through, I'd have actually posted the knowing response below to my blog right away instead of placing it on the Herald's website, since more people would likely see it here sooner than in that Herald article, since depending upon how many comments the original article garnered, my experience in talking to other people is that most people won't read more than whatever comments happen to be on that particular page, depending upon whether your default setting is Most Recent or chron order of first comments to most recent. 
Me, I read all comments of articles I find of interest in chron order.


Now perhaps it was because I'd already had more Hazelnut-flavored coffee than I should've yesterday morning, while lisitening to the network TV morning chat shows on in the background while checking out my usual Sunday morning media breakfast buffet on the computer. 

The only thing that was different this time than the past few months was that I had to be sure not to get too engrossed in something I was reading once This Week in South Florida with Michael Putney ended, since I needed to swing by the store and pick up some bags of ice on the way to catch the Dolphins 2012 season-opener in Houston at my sister's place out in Pembroke Pines, and not be late for the 1 p.m. kickoff.

(As usual, the part of the drive from Hallandale Beach to Flamingo Road in Pembroke Pines via Pembroke Road that was the worst stretch, even on a Sunday afternoon, was between Washington Park in Hollywood and  University Drive in The Pines. The reason? The number of speeding drivers who ride-on-your -bumper when you're doing the speed limit out-numbers safe drivers like me by a factor of 3:1. Some day, I know I'll see a cop on that stretch giving speeding tickets, but after all these years, still nothing as of yesterday! Some day though...)

Miami Herald

Why everyone — parent or not — should care about education coverage

By Aminda Marques Gonzalez

In Print September 9, 2012

Two weeks into the school year and The Miami Herald education team has as much on its to-do list as most children returning to school.

The Miami-Dade school system is putting a $1.2 billion bond referendum before voters, money that would be used to repair aging schools and upgrade technology. The Broward school district is struggling with a troubled transportation system that has left scores of children without rides. The embattled Florida education commissioner resigned weeks before the start of a new term.

Few topics we cover have as broad an impact as education.

“Anyone who has a child in school feels so close to the news,” said Charlene Pacenti, The Miami Herald’s education editor. “Does my school have a leaky roof? Does my child’s classroom have the technology it needs? Is my child’s bus going to come on time? — these are the issues they care about.”

Beyond the parents of school-age kids, what happens in the classroom and at the school district touches the entire community, from the homeowners whose property taxes support our educational system to the business community, which has made education a touchstone of economic growth.

No one is better poised to provide substantive, unbiased schools coverage than The Miami Herald education team. Our coverage is led by Pacenti, a 20-year news veteran with school-age daughters. She also oversees MomsMiami.com, which she helped launch.

Reporter Laura Isensee covers the Miami-Dade school district and Michael Vasquez covers Broward schools and higher education. Both bring years of experience in government reporting to the education beat, as well as an ability to explain how local, state and national policies affect children, parents and teachers. For live coverage, follow Isensee on Twitter at @LauraIsensee and Vasquez at @mrmikevasquez. Pacenti tweets using @MomsMiami.

Parental engagement in education issues has risen dramatically, Pacenti said, fueled by cuts to school budgets across the state.

“Parents are getting involved like I have never seen,” she said. “They have an appetite for this news. They are sharing it and they are acting on it.”

This year’s coverage will focus on three key issues: the Miami-Dade bond referendum and the state of schools in Broward; the introduction of new federal “common core” standards as the FCAT is phased out; and the role of technology in education.

“Education is fundamental,” Isensee said. “It’s so important how well we’re educating students and preparing the next generation. I care about those things. It’s why I wanted to be a journalist in the first place, to tell stories that shape people’s lives.”

-------

My response, such as it was on the spur-of-the-moment is here:

Ms. Marques, how many emails have I sent you and Rick Hirsch and other key Herald managers and editors over the past few years, and posted on my blog, asking a simple question of you all: WHY do you all persist in using the personnel and technology you have in the strange way you do that does NOT take full advantage of either the personnel or technology, which regularly cheats readers out of useful content? Here are some facts that you seem to want regular Herald readers to ignore:

In the year 2012, the Herald STILL has no Education blog. Is there a newspaper in this country with your circulation size that DOESN'T? I doubt it. Now, if something important happens involving Education, especially up in Tallahassee, it appears on the Naked Politics blog, which while slightly better than it had been for years, is NOT the place that anyone goes to read about Education policy news. But because you lack an Education blog, you stick it there. Bad idea.

You've STILL never replaced the former Public Ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos, who left well over a year ago for D.C. and NPR, someone whom you NEVER gave a blog to so he could update columns and comment on breaking stories or controversies. Because he was NOT even a regular Sunday feature, often, entire MONTHS would go by in between columns, and at that point, the stories he wrote about were either forgotten -or hidden behind the Herald's archives pay-wall. How is that any way to engage the public???

While you DO run a Gay blog on the website, it seems more like a pep squad or bulletin board for Gay interests rather than an objective news outlet that shows Gays here are like everyone else in South Florida: some good, some bad, most apathetic like everyone else down here. Unfortunately, on that blog, Gays are either heroes or victims but they're never anything else. It's unrealistic.

For reasons that nobody can figure out, you persist in posting Spanish-language blogs on the Herald's website instead of having them at El Herald.

I could go on... and have gone on with lots of specificity in those emails I've sent you and others at One Herald Plaza. And yet you do nothing...and the unsatisfactory status quo persists. 
Honestly, it's time you folks making the final decisions look in the mirror and figure out a way to make the Herald's print and website content better and more useful to readers who want to be engaged before you become even more irrelevant to South Florida.

------

By the way, just for the record, on Sept. 24, 2010, I sent several members of the Herald's management team an email noting that the Herald had neglected to effectively report on the search for a replacement for then-Broward School Board General Counsel Ed Marko -in place since 1968!- and had yet to mention the candidates being considered as Marko's replacement for that important and high-paying job.
I noted in that Sept. 24th email that the last time the Herald even mentioned Marko leaving was Nov. 3, 2009.
Nearly 11 months!

Some of you newer readers to the blog might never have seen my past emails to Herald management -and my subsequent posting to my blog- taking them to task for the downward spiral that prevents real news from ever appearing in print like it used to, especially local government stories.

You might want to read the following to consider yourself brought up to speed.

May 21, 2012 - What's going on at the Miami Herald? More than a year after the last one fled, the Herald still lacks an Ombudsman -and shows no sign of getting one- to represent readers deep concerns about bias, misrepresentation and flackery on behalf of South Florida's powerful & privileged at the Herald. And that's just one of many unresolved problems there...

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/whats-going-on-at-miami-herald-more.html

December 21, 2011 - For another consistently lousy year of journalism at the Miami Herald, esp. covering Broward County, more lumps of coal in the Christmas stocking of One Herald Plaza -Part 1

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/for-another-consistently-lousy-year-of.html

December 21, 2011 -Part 2 of More lumps of coal in the Christmas stocking of One Herald Plaza for another consistently lousy year of journalism at the Miami Herald, esp. covering Broward County

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/part-2-of-more-lumps-of-coal-in.html

Broward School Board mtg. re General Counsel semi-finalists is Tuesday at 3 p.m; their Financial Advisory Comm. mtg. is on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

I actually could've written the following post weeks or even months ago, but it's just as apropos here now, so here goes:

I'll give you a dollar if you can show me even one mention -before today- of who the actual candidates were for the position of Broward Schools General Counsel position -to replace Ed Marko- in the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel or any local Miami TV newscast.

Well, that dollar of mine isn't going anywhere, which really shows you how despite a story being right in front of them, the actual coverage of local government and agencies in South Florida has never been worse, especially given the technology that's available to them to make sense of what's going on and keep South Florida well-informed.

And have you seen anything noteworthy yet in the local news media on who was named the new CRA Executive Director for the City of Hollywood?

Yet it was newsworthy last year when the last Beach Executive Director, Gil Martinez was fired because of public perceptions -and the belief among his boss, the Hollywood City Commission- that taxpayer money was being wasted, perhaps thru fraud, and that certain other matters weren't being properly addressed, in part, due to stories in the Miami Herald. (Can you say Brazil?)

But an October 7th Herald story, Audit finds no CRA fraud, reads in part:

The audit, which cost the city $65,500, concluded that the agency failed to have proper controls and oversight of its spending, which was often unauthorized, not budgeted and not subjected to a competitive bidding process.

Oh!

Well, the City of Hollywood hired someone a few weeks ago to be the Executive Director for both the Beach and Downtown CRAs. Who are they, what are their qualifications, and what do they plan on doing to regain the Hollywood community's trust that they will be kept 'in-the-loop' and make prudent decisions?
All good questions.

The answer to the first is Jorge Camejo
The answers to the rest, though available now, have YET to appear in the local newspapers or on Miami TV newscasts.

In fact, Camejo's name has STILL never appeared in the Sun-Sentinel two months after he was hired. Not that the Herald has anything to brag about in that respect.

Just more of the same from the sleepwalking South Florida news media members that basically snooze until something awakens them or the public.

Consider the Herald's coverage the past six months on the Ed Marko replacement and retirement stories, a point I shared via an email with Rick Hirsch of the Herald many months ago.

Months before Hirsch was named the Herald's Managing Editor.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/05/2001320/rick-hirsch-named-miami-herald.html

They were completely MIA on that story for months, even while Buddy Nevins of Broward Beat, and to a much-lesser extent, yours truly, was telling people just what was being attempted by the Broward School Board and Supt. James Notter, thru the made-up Emeritus position they were considering creating, a ham-handed attempt to completely emasculate and frustrate the new hire, James D. Stokes.

You remember, that's the position that would have paid Marko a $266,000 annual salary?

Mr. Stokes, the General Counsel-to-be, had the good sense to promptly say non thanks once news about what was really in store for him down here started appearing and the public saw the attempt for what it was: appalling decision-making by people seemingly incapable of ever being right, even when they had the final say.

The ad at the top was published in the Miami Herald on March 1st, 2011

Published in Miami Herald on 2/27/2011

Miami Herald
Editorial
November 13, 2010

Bury this deal
OUR OPINION: No extra pay for School Board's attorney

What were they thinking?

The Broward County School Board was poised to approve -- by voice vote, no discussion -- a generous golden parachute for outgoing board general counsel Ed Marko as it was about to hire a new attorney, James Stokes. The board planned to create a one-year ``general counsel emeritus'' job for Mr. Marko, to the tune of more than $266,000 in salary and benefits, so he could look over the shoulder of Mr. Stokes, who was negotiating a salary of between $180,000 to $216,000.

Mr. Stokes, to his credit, pulled the plug on the deal on Monday. And Board Chair Jennifer Gottlieb, wisely, albeit a little late, pulled the item creating the emeritus position until new board members are sworn in. Truth is, this item should be given a deserving burial.

Mr. Stokes, Palm Bay city attorney, objected to having his predecessor hang around for another year. And rightly so. He has 15 years of experience as a government lawyer and, as he pointed out, there's a staff of capable lawyers already serving the board in case he needed some guidance.

Altogether, hiring Mr. Stokes and retaining Mr. Marko would have cost the school district roughly a half-million dollars. This at a time when teachers' pay is flat and the district's budget is hurting?

A 2008 contract between the board and Mr. Marko created the emeritus position for him. Luckily, the proposed $266,000 compensation wasn't part of the contract. So the board might be legally bound to create the job, but it doesn't have to pay him a whopping salary.

Mr. Marko has served as the School Board's attorney since 1968. It's time for him to retire, but the School Board doesn't owe him anything more than his pension and a nice send off.

Meantime, it will have to decide what to do about hiring a new attorney. What an unnecessary brouhaha.

------
See my previous posts on Ed Marko at:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search?q=Ed+Marko

Buddy Nevins at http://www.browardbeat.com/

“We cannot imagine any level of incompetence that would explain what we have seen." - FL State Grand Jury calls for ABOLISHING Broward School Board

“We cannot imagine any level of incompetence that would explain what we have seen..." - Florida State Grand Jury calls for abolishing Broward School Board due to rampant corruption and mismanagement.

That was the subject header for an email I sent out earlier this evening upon hearing the amazing but welcome news in an out-of-the-blue blog email from Broward Clean Sweep, http://browardcleansweep.wordpress.com/ that the FL statewide Grand Jury under Broward Judge Victor Tobin, and established by former FL governor Charlie Crist, has issued a scathing 51-page report that damns with cold-hard facts the incompetent people and corrupt culture running the Broward School system into the ground.

It levels its cannons right at current Superintendent James Notter, and explicitly calls for the abolition of the elected School Board. To which I can only add, "Huzzah! Huzzah!"

Clearly, the shoe that I and many other South Florida civic activists and bloggers -and some reporters- have been waiting for for what seems like forever has dropped.

I haven't heard the final thump yet, so the shoe is still falling at terminal velocity, and is likely to have more collisions on the way down, but it's clearly only a matter of time before familiar names in Broward County and beyond are being asked hard questions they have heretofore avoided answering publicly to anyone's satisfaction.

Soon, the public will fall back upon Sen. Howard Baker's simple but elastic question of questions during the Senate Watergate hearings: "What did they know and when did they know it?"

-----
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/18/2074314/state-report-abolish-broward-school.html
Miami Herald
State report blasts Broward School Board
By Mary Ellen Klas

In a scathing report released Friday night, the Florida Grand Jury blasted the Broward County School Board for a culture of corruption and reckless spending of taxpayer money.

The board is so riddled with problems, the 51-page report begins, that if the grand jury had the power, it would recomend it be abolished.

“We cannot imagine any level of incompetence that would explain what we have seen,’’ reads a report compiled by the Grand Jury. “Therefore we are reluctantly compelled to conclude that at least some of this behavior can best be explained by corruption of our officials by contractors, vendors and their lobbyists.’’

“But for the Constitutional mandate that requires an elected School Board for each District, our first and foremost recommendation would have been to abolish the Broward County School Board altogether.”

The report also criticized Superintendent Jim Notter, saying he was not strong enough in leading the nation’s sixth largest school district.

The report concludes:

"The corruptive influence here is most often campaign contributions from individuals with a financial stake in how Board members vote. Long ago the Board should have recognized the risk that putting themselves in the center of handing out hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars would inevitably drawn attention and undue influence from moneyed interests...Only now, years later and with pressure from all sides, have they begun to take steps to resolve this and other issues.

"Unfortunately based on the history of this Board as an institution, we have no confidence in their ability to make meaningful changes and to adhere to them. The solutions we see, at least short term, are to remove as much power and influence from the Board as possible and to have an independent outside authority monitor their dealings closely.’’

The report blasts the board for "an appalling lack of both leadership and awareness. Rather than focusing on the big picture and looking to the challenges of the future, they have mired themselves in the day to day running of the District, a task for which they are singularly unqualified.’’

Among the criticisms, the report says the school board ’"seems to be more comfortable with opening unfinished schools than angering the contractors that fund their campaigns through political contributions and fundraisers."

The list of findings is extensive: incomplete and inadequate construction records, untrained inspectors, "wasteful and dubious spending on ill conceived ideas," and board members who "direct that spending towards friends, acquaintances or supporters of Board members without any accountability."

The jurors conclude with 21 recommendations, in addition to calling for an outside monitor to oversee every move until the district and its oversight board roots out corruption and gets into shape. Among them:

Refuse campaign contributions from contractors, vendors and others doing business with the Board.

Require mandatory ethics training and testing by an outside agency.

All late additions to the Board’s agenda must be discussed at a public meeting.

Add more detail to agenda items or provide a link to where more information concerning the item can be found.

Reduce the threshold on spending items on the consent agenda.

Remove retainage reductions from consent agenda.

Require recommendation of the Superintendent or the Deputy Superintendent for reduction in retainage to be in writing and under their signature.

End the influence of the Board over the Building department by turning over inspections to local building departments.

Reduce number of school board members to 5.

Place before the voters the issue of electing the Superintendent.

Create independent office of Inspector General to monitor the Board and District

Prohibit board members from being involved in the selection of contractors, vendors, or financial institutions.

No official business should be conducted between school board members and staff

All bids should be opened in public, with Auditor there to certify bids met minimums.

No decisions should be made anywhere other than a regularly scheduled board meeting.

No discussions should be had other than at Board meetings or workshops as per Sunshine Law requirements.

Prohibit gifts of any value to any Board member or District employee from anyone doing business with the District or lobbying the Board

Empower Department of Education to penalize districts that don’t file require paperwork by withholding any state funds until certificates of occupancy, inspections and other project documents are filed.

Grand Jury Report at:
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/summaries/briefs/09/09-1910/Filed_02-18-2011_Final_Report.pdf

Whenever the State Grand Jury is ready to come visit Hallandale Beach and sit a spell and to hear from concerned citizens who've been paying close attention detail just what's been going on here for years under the Joy Cooper/Mike Good/Mark Antonio regime, we'll be ready and waiting.

There are dozens of people in this SE Broward County community, including yours truly, who have a mountain of facts and evidence to present to interested parties in a position to actually see that the spirit and letter of the law in this state is followed, NOT intentionally ignored. Not least of all, the state's Sunshine Laws, enshrined in the state constitution.

For years, Hallandale Beach City Hall has acted like those laws were merely suggestions!

This news about the Broward School Board finally getting their comeuppance could hardly come a day too soon for the beleaguered kids in this county, who for too long have been at the bottom of the School Board's pyramid, while lobbyists, contractors and cronies were up at the top, thanks to their $$$ and influence come election time.

Next Tuesday at 7 p.m. will be a public meeting of the Hollywood Democratic Club, featuring Broward School Board members Jennifer Gottlieb and Ann Murray, attempting to defend their dismal record of achievement.

And that was BEFORE this positive news!

The meeting will be held at the Hollywood Community Center, 1301 S. Ocean Drive, Hollywood.

Let your voice be heard.

Screening Comm. meeting for candidates for Broward Schools General Counsel position is Thursday the 24th at 8:30 a.m.

Published in Miami Herald on Monday, February 14, 2011

Screening Committee meeting for the Broward Schools General Counsel's position is Thursday the 24th at 8:30 a.m., KCW Administration Building, 600 S.E. Third Ave, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Bring government-issued photo ID and be prepared to be patted-down!
Seriously!

If you doubt me on this point, read Buddy Nevins' January 31st post in Broward Beat:
http://www.browardbeat.com/school-cops-job-driving-board-members-guarding-political-meetings/

According to the Broward Schools website, www.browardschools.com, which had no record of the Feb. 24th meeting as of Thursday night, above, there will be another one of those 1,001 workshops the Broward School Board has a year, on the selection of a General Counsel on March 29, 2011 at 10 a.m. at the KCW Administration Building.

Or so they say now, but there's absolutely no reason to have any faith in their actually meeting a reasonable deadline, something their students have to do -or be penalized. James Notter and the Broward School Board just kick the can farther down the road, just like they did for years with Ed Marko.

Broward School Board members will try to defend their record next Tuesday at DEM mtg. in Hollywood. Board v. Reality? Reality wins in a knockout!

Published in Miami Herald on 2/6/2011

The Hollywood Democratic Club will be hosting some Broward School Board members next Tuesday the 22nd at the Hollywood Cultural Center at 1301 S. Ocean Drive at 7 p.m. Their stated agenda is to "speak on the status of the Broward School Board."

Status?
Lower-than-low, bluer-than-blue?

Based on what I can tell from conversations I have had with well-informed people throughout Broward, folks who know who all the players are, plus, the occasional indignant email I receive from blog readers complaining about the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel STILL ignoring far too many prospective School Board stories, or ignoring ones broken by others with no follow-up by them, like the rather famous Jennifer Gottlieb story by The NewTimes' Bob Norman I've referred to here previously,
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/index?keywords=Jennifer+Gottlieb&x=0&y=0 I'd have to say the community's clear answer regarding status is "being driven into the ground."

Or, after last year's Keystone Kops antics and blame-shifting during the Marko Chronicles, if you prefer, "laughing-stock."

Oh the hijinks and rolled eyes that will ensue at the Q&A!
I wonder which of our 'favorites' will be in attendance?

More true tales of Ed Marko, the School Board legal eagle who fights against the interests of Broward County taxpayers

This ad was published in Miami Herald on 11/21/2010

http://newspaperads.miami.com/ROP/ads.aspx?advid=1173958&adid=10175143&cat=3349

I draw your attention today to this sentence from the spot-on story by the Sun-Sentinel's Megan O'Matz below about more of the low-lights at the dysfunction junction that is the Broward County School system.
"Instead of immediately pressing AshBritt to return the money, the district hired the Miami accounting firm, Berkowitz Dick Pollack & Brant, to review the auditors' findings. A year later, the firm has yet to issue a report."

I'm afraid I'm going to have to give Ed Marko & Co. another big "F" for failure to perform his duties in an appropriate and timely fashion. You hired a firm who couldn't do the job within a year?

$150 for a Mop Bucket?

And Marko's the genius the School Board wants to have hang around to educate a new School Board general counsel? What, as an example of what NOT to do?

Ed Marko is to Broward County school kids' education what a screwdriver is to a successful Thanksgiving Day turkey dinner: completely un-necessary.

In case you forgot, in 2009 the Broward County Commission approved an initial payment of $13.6 million to pay the architectural firm Spillis Candela & Partners to design the new courthouse tower.

re Pompano's Beach-based AshBritt, Inc., see past articles on them in the BrowardPalmBeach NewTimes at http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/11/suggested_headline_not_all_spr.html and http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/index?keywords=AshBritt&x=18&y=10 in particular, this one from August of 2009.


BrowardPalmbeach NewTimes
$150 for a Mop Bucket?
AshBritt Accused of Overcharging County Too
By Bob Norman,
Mon., Aug. 31 2009 @ 1:25PM

You know that AshBritt audit that showed the Broward County School Distrist was overcharged some $765,000 after Hurricane Wilma?

You know, the one that Supt. Jim Notter and the board members were outraged about because it told the truth about what was happening?

Well, a very similar circumstance with AshBritt and its now-defunct subcontractor C&B Services -- both of whom were represented by megalobbyist Ron Book -- occurred in the halls of Broward County government.

One of the more glaring examples, according to a county document was AshBritt's charging the county $149 for a... mop bucket.

See the rest of the post at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2009/08/deja_vu_ashbritt_accused_of_ov.php

-----

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-ashbritt-broward-schools-20101122,0,7767903.story
AshBritt sues over Broward schools' claim the firm should refund $765,000

Megan O'Matz, Sun Sentinel

4:41 PM EST, November 22, 2010

A Pompano Beach company, pummeled in an audit for allegedly cheating the Broward School District out of more than $765,000 for Hurricane Wilma repair work, has asked a judge to rule the firm was entitled to every cent it charged taxpayers.

In a suit filed in Broward Circuit Court on Election Day, AshBritt Inc. is calling on the court to referee its 17-month battle with the School District over nearly $2.2 million paid for cleanup from the 2005 storm.

Though the debris-removal company has not been formally asked to return any money, AshBritt CEO Randal Perkins said he wants the court to restore AshBritt's reputation by declaring it "was entitled to receive the amounts charged."

It also wants the school district to pay its court costs and as well as any other money the judge "deems just, equitable and proper."

The suit comes only weeks after the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in a separate audit, found the school system could not justify nearly $15 million in federal reimbursements for hurricane cleanup and repairs. No companies were named in that review.

AshBritt's legal filing is the latest volley in a war provoked by district auditors who issued a report in June 2009 claiming that AshBritt "grossly overcharged" the school system. The review found "clear signs of coercion and falsified documents" by district administrators and staff, as well as "overbilling and double billing" by the company.

Perkins told the Sun Sentinel last week that: "This has dragged on long enough."

"We did nothing wrong," he said. "We did not overbill. We did not overcharge."

Broward School District Assistant General Counsel Tom Cooney declined comment on the AshBritt suit and referred questions to the district's general counsel, Ed Marko, who did not respond to two messages left by the Sun Sentinel.

Instead of immediately pressing AshBritt to return the money, the district hired the Miami accounting firm, Berkowitz Dick Pollack & Brant, to review the auditors' findings. A year later, the firm has yet to issue a report.

The district's Audit Committee, an advisory group, has repeatedly asked for an accounting of how much the district has paid Berkowitz but has been rebuffed.

"I have not received a specific bill for the services rendered," Marko told the committee at its Oct. 25th meeting.

He said he preferred not to receive a bill because it would reveal aspects of the district's legal strategy and would be subject to disclosure under Florida's public records law.

"We didn't want anything in writing that would indicate I did X number of things, talked specifically to X or to Y, etc…" Marko said.

The district did not respond to a records request made more than a week ago by the Sun Sentinel for the amount paid to Berkowitz.

AshBritt contracts with local, state and federal agencies to clean up debris after disasters. It dove in to help in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina and is assisting in removing rubble after the earthquake in Haiti.

The controversy involving the school district stretches back to October 2005, when Hurricane Wilma hit Broward County, damaging many portable classrooms.

On Nov. 2, 2005, the district's head of construction, Michael Garretson, who has since died, held a meeting with staff, representatives of C&B Services of Texas, and Ron Book, a politically connected Broward lobbyist, according to auditors.

Garretson directed staff to issue C&B a purchase order of up to $1 million to repair portable classrooms. The work was not competitively bid because of the emergency.

Weeks later, a district cost estimator, Thomas Myers, alerted administrators that invoices from C&B were "two times the industry standard rates for the work documented," according to the audit.

In mid-January 2006, Myers further warned that C&B was not a licensed Florida contractor and was not insured or registered to do business in the state.

The district refused to pay the bills until getting legal advice from Marko's office.

Months later, auditors learned AshBritt was "being identified as the prime contractor for all work that was provided by C&B Services."

Though the district originally set a $1 million limit on C&B's work, C&B billed for $2 million, including the replacement of roofs that were not authorized and had no documented damage, the audit found.

The audit contends C&B's invoices were not paid until AshBritt was selected by the district to process the invoices with a mark up.

Auditors wrote that AshBritt overbilled the district $237,580 in increased overhead, profit, mark up and per diem labor rates for portable roof repairs, as well as $528,028 for interior work "which was either not performed at all or was double-billed."

The audit accuses the district's construction department of creating a "fraudulent documentation trail to justify payment," to AshBritt.

CEO Perkins declined to talk to the Sun Sentinel about specifics of the audit or AshBritt's relationship to C&B.

Garretson, the district's chief of construction at the time, said the report was full of "accusations and innuendo" that amounted to "slander."

In a July 16, 2009, memo to the auditors, Garretson denied the district was overcharged, saying the work was necessary and verified and consistent with market prices at the time.

More than a year ago, he was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating corruption in the school system. He was instructed to bring along all records related to AshBritt.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami last week declined to confirm the existence of an investigation, much less the status of it.

Reader Comments at: http://discussions.sun-sentinel.com/20/soflanews/fl-ashbritt-broward-schools-20101122/10

Mendacity at Broward School Board Only Gets Worse and Worse; Ann Murray's shameful votes are like a noose she puts around her OWN neck!

Above, it's the return of the Broward County pol with the completely upside-down sense of right and wrong, Broward County School Board member Ann Murray.
And look who's joining her today, below, her good pal, Jennifer "Hello, I must be going" Gottlieb, the Board's current chair and principal apologist for all things ridiculous and absurd, which is to say every single thing they touch.


Individually and collectively, they continue to set very bad examples for young Broward school children on how to accept responsibility, treat others, how to be a responsible person in society at large, and how to act towards people whom they work for -Broward taxpayers.

As I've previously stated in emails and on my blog, in my opinion, a recall of two Broward County School Board members next spring or summer may well be required to get some semblance of genuine accountability and transparency there.

I'm not only fine with that, I will be happy to be an active part of making that a reality so that kids, and NOT immature, incompetent and self-involved adults, are the number one priority.

Seriously, how did they not see ANY of these problems coming down the pike?

As I've written in this space repeatedly, these are the same School Board geniuses who between them and Supt. James Notter, couldn't figure out a way to actually have their so-called Integrity public meetings televised on the TV station they already own and operate, and for which Broward taxpayers have already paid for.

Something I publicly wondered about in this very space before their first meeting.

Meetings that, for the record, were never held south of Fort Lauderdale.

Within the next two weeks I will find out definitively from the Broward County Supervisor of Elections how long both Jennifer Gottlieb and Ann Murray get to stay in office from their recent re-election before a recall process against them may begin.

In most places I've lived in this country, to prevent bad-loser referendums, you can't recall someone from public office within six months of them being elected or within three months of them being on the election ballot, but I'm not sure whether or not the fact that both Gottlieb and Murray were already in office prior to the election affects that time-line or not.
Assuming such a rule even exists here in Broward County.

I will keep you apprised as I gather the facts and will also let you know about those Public Records Requests I'm about to drop on the Broward School system.

Just a reminder -the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel NEVER mentioned anything about this controversy surrounding School Board general counsel Ed Marko and the replacement process until Buddy Nevins at Broward Beat wrote about the Board's expensive parting gift to Marko last week.
Nothing!

Both newspapers never mentioned the interviews or meetings that supposed new-hire James Stokes was present at, meetings that even I mentioned on my blog days before they happened.
In fact, Stokes' name never appeared in print or online at either paper's website.

Sorry, but that's not just completely "Unsatisfactory," that's a well-earned grade of "F"

Above and below, July 13, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier looking south at the Broward County Schools HQ, 600 S.E. Third Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

As we see from today's School Board developments, when a circular firing-squad in Broward County has a deadline, they brook no discussion.
Shots must be fired regardless of the consequences!

Why should logic and reason get into the act NOW when it has been absent for so many years?

And what can you say about shameless Ann Murray -the rep for SE Broward, inc. Hallandale Beach and Hollywood- and her continuing lack of foresight, common sense and gravitas?

Today, rather than do the prudent and sensible thing, vote no or vote to table the motion, Murray voted to do something that should more properly be decided upon by the ENTIRE School Board that properly reflects the new additions from last week's elections.

To call what Ann Murray has shown over the past few years merely a political tin-ear, is to misunderstand what that term means in reality, and underestimates how reckless and unrepentant she's been in doing exactly what she said she wouldn't do if elected.

If Ann Murray, thru her own behavior and cast votes continues to put a political noose around her own neck, am I wrong for wanting to yank -HARD- on that noose and have her recalled from office?
And her pal in chaos and mayhem, Jennifer Gottlieb?
I think not.

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The Daily Pulp blog
Broward Politics
Broward School Board Pushes Forward With Bad Deal
By Bob Norman
November 9 2010 @ 12:20PM

The Broward County School Board has a bad case of emeritus.

You might think that after the stink caused by the Broward County School Board's plan to give outgoing Ed Marko a $266,000 salary to serve as general counsel emeritus after he leaves his position, the board members might just throw that idea out the window.

​Yeah, you'd be wrong. Today -- moments ago, in fact -- the board voted 5-2 to approve the position for Marko, though the salary is still up in the air.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/11/broward_school_board_pushes_fo.php

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Broward Beat
Farewell Letter Says Volumes About School Board’s Shortcomings
By Buddy Nevins
November 8, 2010

James Stokes’ farewell letter, which he sent when he dropped out of consideration for the job of the School Board’s general counsel, says it all. Stokes appears way too polite to throw brickbats.
However, for a government lawyer, the letter is pointed and it is easy to read between the lines.

It is obvious that the employment contract negotiations with current General Counsel Ed Marko were both insulting to Stokes and prompted him to walk away from the job.

Read the rest of the post at: http://www.browardbeat.com/school-applicants-letter-says-it-all-about-notter-marko/

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Mayo on the Side blog
Sun-Sentinel news columnist Michael Mayo
New school board attorney backs out
By Michael Mayo November 8, 2010 11:22 AM

The turmoil keeps coming for the Broward School Distirct: The attorney chosen to succeed longtime general counsel Ed Marko has quit before he started.

James Stokes, the city attorney from Palm Bay, Florida, notified district officials this morning that he is no longer interested in the job.

Stokes was offered the position last month, but his contract terms hadn't been finalized.
The salary was supposed to be in the range of $180,000-$216,000.

Read the rest of the post at: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2010/11/new_school_board_attorney_back.html

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Broward Beat
School Board Back To Step One After Attorney Choice Drops Out
By Buddy Nevins
November 8, 2010

James Stokes, the city attorney in Palm Bay, Florida who was slated to be the new Broward School Board attorney, has decided he doesn’t want the job.

That puts the School Board back at step one in the process to replace longtime General Counsel Ed Marko.

Stokes dropped out after negotiations with Marko over his future pay and responsibilities.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/school-board-attorney-candidate-drops-out-board-back-to-step-one/

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Mayo on the Side blog
Another Broward School Board outrage: $266,654 retirement gift to attorney Marko
By Michael Mayo
November 5, 2010 09:58 AM

Talk about outrageous: On the verge of a big revamp, the Broward School Board is set to give longtime attorney Ed Marko a fat retirement gift: a one-year contract worth $266,654 to serve as "general counsel emeritus.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2010/11/another_broward_school_board_o.html

The post-Ed Marko era is in sight for Broward Schools as interviews for finalists for General Counsel slated for Monday

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If it seems to you like there hasn't been a story in a very, very long time in print or on local TV newscasts about the Broward County School Board's search for a new General Counsel, it's not your imagination.
There haven't been any.

Presumably, that will change after next Monday as the finalists for the position are interviewed at a public meeting at 3 p.m. at the Broward School HQ in downtown Fort Lauderdale, 600 S.E. 3rd Avenue.

Looks like Broward educrats are prepared to FINALLY usher in the post-Ed Marko era. I won't be there, though, as instead I'll be closer to home as part of a far more important matter.

Former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, Ben Gamla Hebrew Charter School's founder will be speaking before the Hallandale Beach Education Advisory Committee monthly meeting at the same time, Monday the 11th, at 4:00 p.m. at Hallandale Elementary School, 900 S.W. 8th Street, Hallandale Beach.

http://www.browardschools.com/

See this interesting June 24th, 2009 post by Buddy Nevins at Broward Beat:

Bar Brawl Expected When Lawyers Fight For Ed Marko’s School Board Job http://www.browardbeat.com/school-board-will-discuss-ed-markos-fate-big-money-legal-job-could-open/

I hate to miss a good 'bar brawl,' how about you?

Successor to Ed Marko? Broward School Board's 2nd round of interviews with General Counsel applicants set for Monday, after Integrity workshop

The Legal Services Committee of the Broward County School Board will meet on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. -or the conclusion of the scheduled 1 p.m. workshop- in the 11th Floor Large Conference Room of their high-rise HQ at 600 S.E. 3rd Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, for the purpose of conducting the second round of interviews with applicants seeking to replace Ed Marko as General Counsel, a position he's held since LBJ was president.
Really.

Think about that.

Who, other than a person like Rep. John Dingell, who has been in Congress since the first term of President Eisenhower, succeeding his own father, who'd been elected in 1932, could possibly think that having the same person in place for well over 40 years was a satisfactory way of doing things?

Well, that is, unless you're a South American dictator, though to be factual, Marko was in his position in Broward many years before Pinochet was in power in Chile.

I found out about this meeting when I saw a small ad about it in Saturday's Miami Herald at the top of p. 6B.

But as has become a very bad habit with the the Herald the past six months, despite the fact that the public notice ads they are paid to run are also supposed to be posted at their online announcement page, http://newspaperads.miami.com/ROP/Subcat.aspx?cat=3328&subcat=3349 this ad was not.

And now that I think of it, neither, initially, was one I saw in Thursday's paper on p. 5B about an important Hollywood City Commission meeting on the 27th at 6 p.m. about the long-running drama that is Block 55, the property of developer Chip Abele and his Block 55, LLP group.
That's the NE corner of Young Circle and the once-and-possible future home of a the new Publix and condo tower.
http://newspaperads.miami.com/ROP/Subcat.aspx?cat=3328

I eventually found the Hollywood ad and in a few days, will run it here along with some news about what's going on there.

Which is why I had to take a photograph of the ad -at top- instead of simply reproducing a clearer version of the ad here so everyone would know what's afoot.

My previous posts on the topic of Marko's successor were from July 13th:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/mea-culpa-on-marko-meeting-its.html and July 12th http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/mea-culpa-on-marko-meeting-its.html

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The Broward School Board's three-headed "Integrity" committee released its final report on Friday the 17th.
Did you see any reporting about it locally, in print or on TV?
I sure didn't, and I was looking!

And that was supposed to be a big deal, remember?

The final recommendations will be discussed on Monday the 20th at the 1 p.m. Board workshop preceding the post-Marko era interviews I alluded to above.

The final "Integrity" report is here:
http://browardschoolsintegrity.org/core/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Complete-Report-as-a-PDF3.pdf

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BrowardBeat
Deals With Insiders Continue At School Board
By Buddy Nevins

The Broward School Board might be suffering financially, but work must go on.

That includes deals with insiders.

The School Board is scheduled on Tuesday to renew a multi-million dollars lease for a 115,000-square-foot office building in Sunrise owned by the Stiles Corporation though two limited partnerships.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/deals-with-insiders-continue-at-school-board/

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
South Florida Schools blog

Outside firm says school auditors doing a great job

By Akilah Johnson September 15, 2010 02:50 PM

Much of the recent talk—the last year or so—about the Broward School District’s Office of the Chief Auditor comes with a footnote to findings that stir up controversy and criticism.

Well, here’s some good news for the addendum: District auditors received high marks from an outside peer review.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/educationblog/2010/09/outside_firm_says_school_audit.html

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See also: http://akilahjohnson.com/ and
http://twitter.com/akjohnson2