A proposed Broward charter school with ties to Fethullah Gulen, the mysterious Islamic cleric, hired Broward Democrat Chairman Mitchell Ceasar as its lobbyist before the Broward County School Board. Known as “Gulen Schools”, followers of Gulen have built thousands of charter schools all over the world. Last May, CBS News 60 Minutes television program documented the growing Gulen school movement in the United States. 60 Minutes said Gulen, living in seclusion in the Poconos mountains, appears only via video webcasts. Gulen, a Turkish citizen, was accused of treason by calling for an Islamic coup of the Turkish government. The report mentioned classified emails released by Wikileaks which disclosed some in the Turkish government see Gulen as a “political leader such as Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini.”

The 60 Minutes report covered accusations that Gulen schools abuse U.S. immigration laws by bringing in thousands of Turkish citizens to teach math and science at the charter schools. An official with a Texas charter school group called the claim “not sure” saying Turkish citizens are brought over because of a lack of “qualified” American teachers. But 60 Minutes found that visa applications for Gulen teachers listed them as “English teachers.” Oops! Some American teachers claim Gulen teachers are forced to give a portion of their salaries back to the Gulen movement.

Paging the Broward Teachers Union!

Dating back to 2007, Gulen followers, under the name of Riverside Science Inc., have been trying to open a charter school in Broward County. Their first try, Riverside Science Academy, failed after school officials were unable to secure a lease.  Just before the start of the 2012-13 school year, the group’s second try,“Broward Math And Science School”, was denied the right to open a Margate campus. CBS 4 Newsreported, “The district said each school failed to submit documentation of certain provisions they had to meet before the July 20th deadline. The schools in question were given several reminders of the deadline and notified that ‘Failure to provide the required documentswithin the specific timeframe terminated the charter agreement.’”

So like any other business seeking government influence, Riverside Science Inc. decided they needed a lobbyist. According to Broward Schools lobbyist records, the group hired Mitchell Ceasar in December 2012.

Caesar, a Plantation attorney, is also the chairman of the Broward Democrat Executive Committee.

Sure, local Republicans and Tea Party groups will be quick to blast Caesar for helping the controversial Gulen followers. However, even liberals may find fault with the Gulen schools.

The New York Times reported on State of Georgia audits which found Gulen charter schools funneled money and contracts to other Gulen followers. “The audit, released Tuesday by the Fulton County Schools near Atlanta, found the schools made purchases like T-shirts, teacher training and video production services from organizations with connections to school officials or Gulen followers. Those included more than $500,000 in contracts since January 2010 with the Grace Institute, a foundation whose board has included school leaders. In some cases the awards skirted bidding requirements, the audit said.”

Why is Mitch Caesar so eager to help followers of a shadowy Muslim cleric funnel taxpayer dollars to Turkey and who knows where? Broward school dollars should be spent in Broward, not in the Poconos mountains or Turkey.

Not one but two members of the Motwani family are playing important roles in Broward County Commission politics. The Daily Broward reported how Broward Commissioner Chip LaMarca (R-Sigh) tapped Democrat fundraiser Dev Ramesh Motwani as one of his campaign treasurers. Dev Motwani is quite the fundraiser. In March, Motwani threw a big 30th Birthday Party/fundraiser for Congressman Patrick Murphy(D-DWS Drone) the guy who barely beat Congressman Allen West (R-Republican). For last year’s campaign Motwani gave Murphy more than $5,000. In March, Motwani gave him another $5,200. Motwani gave another Democrat, Commissioner Kristin Jacobs, $1,500 for her US Congressional bid. He gave Jacobs’ opponent, Lois Frankel, another Democrat, $1,500 too. Motwani gave local Democrats Mike Satz and Jared Moskowitz $500 each. Wait, doesn’t look like Dev gave money to any Republicans!

Ramola Motwani, part of the same Lauderdale Beach Hotel developer family, is another prolific Democrat donor. She gave money to the Obama Victory Fund, Hillary Clinton, Ron Klein, Patrick Murphy, Kristin Jacobs, Kendrick Meek, and the Democrat National Committee.

Florida Department of State records show Ramola Motwani is a director of The Friends Of Central Broward Regional Park. This non-profit corporation is the group behind the cricket stadium mess in Lauderhill. Who else is on their board? Yep, you guessed it, Broward Commissioner Dale Holness.

Last week, The Sun-Sentinel documented the colossal failure of the Friends of Central Broward Regional Park. “More than five years after Broward County opened the nation’s first internationally certified cricket stadium, promoters can count on one hand how many international matches have been held there — and still have three fingers to spare.” For the folks in Tamarac, that means there have been just 2 cricket events. Guess that $10 million dollar investment wasn’t such a great idea.

Wait there’s more from the Sun-Sentinel, “So far, the stadium has produced less than $100,000 a year in rental and parking revenues, mostly by hosting lower-level competitions, local cultural events and various sporting attractions. Tourism officials say cricket generated only $3 million last year, barely a half-percent of the county’s sports-based tourism dollars.”

When observers were asked why the park is a failure they pointed to “the lack of a stadium business plan, ignorance about how the cricket world operates, and an uncooperative nationalcricket organization as reasons for not drawing the international matches that would fill the stadium and area hotels and restaurants.”

They mean Dale Holness and Company are clueless. Back in 2009, a cricket website trumpeted Holness’ creation of the group. “We are honored that such an eminent group has accepted my invitation to become the first members of the Broward County District 9 Commissioner Holness Cricket Committee. The committee members bring a wealth of experience which will provide valuable insight and support in the future marketing and promotion of Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium – the only International Cricket Council certified cricket facility in North America – as a prime location for international cricket and training,” said Commissioner Holness.

Uh no. The Friends of Central Broward Regional have a new website that is simply laughable. The group lists its address as Dale Holness’ real estate office on West Sunrise Blvd.

Last summer, Broward County taxpayers paid big bucks to sponsor the Digicel Cricket Series. Holness claimed it would be the greatest thing since sliced bread. “Eight hundred hotel nights have already been booked and tickets aren’t available for sale yet,” said Commissioner Dale V.C. Holness. “This will also bring tremendous live worldwide coverage and exposure to Broward County. We’re working to stimulate the economy in Central Broward by including the participation of the county, businesses and civic leaders.”

Even Chip LaMarca chimed in. “This provides an opportunity to put Broward County on the map for Cricket worldwide,” said Commissioner Chip LaMarca.

That LaMarca decision was almost as bad as the one to approve a $16,700 taxpayer bailout for another Holness connected group. Under the guise of “Haitian Cultural Heritage Month”, the County Commission gave $15,000 in cold hard cash to the Community Access Center in Miramar. Holness is vice president of the liberal leaning group which offers counseling services for food stamps and “pregnancy services”.

Stacy Ritter called it pork. Sue Gunzburger said it was Pandora’s Box. Chip LaMarca said “yes.”