Tag Archives: email

Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco Finally Responds To Union Certification Woes With Another Attack On School Board Members

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BTU President Anna Fusco

Days after REDBROWARD revealed the Broward Teachers Union (BTU) failed to achieve automatic union certification with less than sixty percent of dues paying membership, President Anna Fusco has finally addressed the matter. On Monday, BTU promised a forthcoming coming email from Fusco would “clear up the fake news” about the decertification process. During a School Board workshop on Tuesday, David Azzarito, the District’s Chief People Person, confirmed BTU (and its Units) failed to be automatically certified.

So much for “fake news.”

On Wednesday, Fusco sent an email to teachers. In the email, Fusco attacked School Board Members Torey Alston and Brenda Fam by name.

Fusco wrote, “Torey Alston, along with anti-worker Board Member Brenda Fam, is spreading misinformation about the BTU and the upcoming PERC elections. We are not surprised that these two continue to attack educators and support staff.”

Neither Alston nor Fam plays any role in the union certification process. By Florida law, the certification and recertification processes are done by the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC).

Here is Anna Fusco’s entire email:

As many of you may have heard, fresh off of his resounding defeat, Torey Alston, along with anti-worker Board Member Brenda Fam, is spreading misinformation about the BTU and the upcoming PERC elections. We are not surprised that these two continue to attack educators and support staff.

These are the same people who:

• Voted against your salary increases and later, even tried to take : Contrue to tree tooth and nay:

Voted against referendum money, and to deny salary increases to

Now, they want you to leave the only union that fought AGAINST all of this. Hmm, I wonder why they want to get rid of the BTU….

It is true that under anti-union legislation passed in 2023, certain unions representing public works in Florida must report their membership rate on a yearly basis, and if their membership is below a super-majority of 60%, they must petition for an election with the Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC).

PERC is processing the BU’s petitions and elections will soon be hold.

No determination has yet been made about whether those elections will be conducted on-site or by mail ballots.

But let’s be clear – the BTU has not been decertified.

BTU remains the certified bargaining representative of all four units – Education Professionals (EP), Education Support Professionals (ESP), and Technical Support Professionals (TSP), supervisory and non-supervisory personnel.

Because we are united, have contracts, and are represented by the BTU, management cannot unilaterally change benefits, or other terms and conditions employment.

Your contracts remain in full force and effect and all of your rights and benefits remain secure.

It’s undeniable that anti-union politicians are working hard to silence our voices, but we will not allow them to succeed. Now, more than ever, we must stand united and ensure that our union remains strong by boosting our membership. Our strength lies in our numbers, and by standing together, we protect our careers, our contracts, and the future of our profession.

Voting to keep BTU as our bargaining representative is not just a choice; it’s a necessity to safeguard everything we’ve fought for.

A “yes” vote keeps BTU strong, while a “no” vote doesn’t just weaken us—it removes the ability for ANY union to represent us.

A “no” vote means no other union, leaving us all unprotected and vulnerable to exploitation. We cannot, and will not, allow teachers to become ununionized and stripped of their collective power.

This is our moment to rally our colleagues, encourage them to join BTU, and show that we are an unbreakable force. Together, our voice is powerful, and our unity is our greatest strength!

Thank you very much.

In Solidarity,

Anna Fusco, President

Broward Teachers Union

Know someone who’s not a member?

Fake News Website Appears To Use Tamarac Commissioner Marlon Bolton’s Email List To Attack His Opponents

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A “fake news” website appears to use an email list belonging to Tamarac Commissioner Marlon Bolton to attack his opponents and praise his allies. Tamarac residents have complained about emails from the “Tamarac Post” website attacking city officials. REDBROWARD previously exposed the deep ties between Bolton and the Tamarac Post.

Tamarac Post recently featured stories attacking Tamarac Commissioner Elvin Villalobos.

In May, Villalobos made headlines when he questioned the propriety of political committees tied to Bolton receiving large contributions from city vendors. Soon after Villalobos made his allegations, the Tamarac Post began a series of articles attacking him.

Many residents and city officials question how the Tamarac Post obtained the email addresses of city residents. Federal law requires sites to obtain permission from recipients before sending emails. Some residents told REDBROWARD they never signed up to receive emails from the Tamarac Post.

REDBROWARD obtained the most recent email blast from the Tamarac Post. Near the bottom of the email are options to “unsubscribe” and “update profile.”

REDBROWARD clicked on “update profile.” We were redirected to a new page entitled “Update Your Commissioner Marlon Bolton Profile.”

Generated by Constant Contact, the email provider used by the Tamarac Post, the page continues:

You are seeing this message for one of the following reasons:

  1. You are a current member of the mailing list for Commissioner Marlon Bolton and would like to update your profile.
  2. You are a previous member of the mailing list for Commissioner Marlon Bolton and would like to re-subscribe to this list – Welcome back!

This is not the first time technology exposed direct ties between Marlon Bolton and the Tamarac Post.

In September 2021, a link provided by the Tamarac Post revealed “MBOLTON” authored stories attacking City of Tamarac politicians. Since late August, five Tamarac Post stories were written by “Maria Colson.” An August 26, 2021 story was a puff piece praising Tamarac Commissioner Marlon Bolton for a meaningless political appointment.

The next four stories featured baseless attacks on Bolton’s fellow commissioners. The most recent story contains numerous false claims against Mayor Michelle Gomez, Vice Mayor Elvin Villalobos and even former Mayor Beth Talabisco.

In March 2021, REDBROWARD exposed Marlon Bolton’s deep ties to “The Tamarac Post,” which was owned and operated by close Bolton ally Anthony Bonamy.

The Tamarac Post repeatedly wrote stories praising Marlon Bolton and his then-Commission co-hort Elberg Mike Gelin. The City Of North Lauderdale fired Bonamy from his position as deputy clerk after REDBROWARD revealed his role in the website. Bonamy was quickly hired as an aide to Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness.

On August 31,2021, REDBROWARD revealed how Tamarac Post reporter Maria Colson was not a Tamarac resident. 

According to her social media accounts, Maria Colson was a twentysomething woman living in Sidcup, England. According to her LinkedIn page, Colson worked for TJ MAXX and a public policy firm. Both jobs are located in England, NOT Tamarac.

Colson’s Tamarac Post bio gives a vanity website, mariacolson.com, which appears to be a dead link. Links to her Facebook and Twitter accounts are also provided.

According to her Twitter account, Maria Colson is deeply interested in British animal rights causes and climate change initiatives. She made no mention of Tamarac, or Broward, or Florida or even the U.S.A.

REDBROWARD attempted to contact Maria Colson via her Facebook page. She never responded to questions about her reporting.

Why were stories allegedly written by a young Englishwoman posted under “MBOLTON?”

How did the Tamarac Post get access to the Constant Contact account for Commissioner Marlon Bolton?

Who is writing these attack stories for the Tamarac Post?