The Sun-Sentinel Opinion Makers™️ endorsed Hazelle Rogers opponent after Rogers could not answer questions about payments to a Delaware company known as Purple Bird Communications LLC. Last week, REDBROWARD revealed Rogers paid more than $25,000 to the month-old Purple Bird for work on her Broward County Commission District 9 campaign. Records show Purple Bird Communications shares the same address as Hazelle Rogers’ campaign headquarters.

Just hours after REDBROWARD exposed the existence her payments to Purple Bird Hazelle Rogers amended her campaign reports. According to Broward Supervisor of Elections records, on July 11th at 10:21PM, Rogers deleted the June 28, 2022 payment to Purple Bird Communications. Rogers gave no explanation.

Instead, the amended report changed the address for Purple Bird Communications to the address of the registered agent in Delaware. The agent forms Delaware corporations for a fee and then accepts mail and correspondence on behalf of the true owners. This is required by Delaware law.

The Rogers June 13, 2022 payment to Purple Bird was not changed. It still lists Rogers’ P.O. Box address as Purple Bird’s address.

“She has not earned the trust of Broward voters”

Two days later, The Sun-Sentinel Opinion Makers™️ asked Hazelle Rogers about the REDBROWARD report.

In a Sun Sentinel editorial board interview, Rogers was unable to answer questions about two campaign expenditures totaling more than $25,000 to Purple Bird Communications, whose address is the same Fort Lauderdale P.O. box Rogers uses for her campaign. Rogers’ reports show payments of $22,150 to Purple Bird for “canvassing and designing” and $3,000 for “design marketing materials.” The expenses were first reported by the Red Broward website.

Sun-Sentinel July 15, 2022

Rogers told editors Steve Bousquet and Dan Sweeney that she did not have all the answers about Purple Bird. “I don’t have all the details,” Rogers said. “You contract with a number of people to do different things.” They called Rogers response “woefully inadequate.”

“She has not earned the trust of Broward voters,” they wrote. The Sun-Sentinel Opinion Makers™️ endorsed her opponent, Guithele Ruiz-Nicolas.

The Rogers interview is even worse than described in the endorsement.

Dan Sweeney asked Rogers a simple question-who owns or controls Purple Bird Communications? Rogers played dumb. She claimed to have learned about the issue the day before. Rogers claimed she was finding out information about the company.

“I have a campaign strategist and a group of campaign consultants,” Rogers said. “I follow their guidance.”

(A week earlier, REDBROWARD spotted Tamarac Commissioner Marlon Bolton in Plantation driving Rogers campaign workers and planting signs in yards. Is Bolton one of Rogers’ campaign consultants?)

An incredulous Sweeney wasn’t buying Rogers’ ignorance. He asked why the company shares the same address as her campaign.

“They do? They don’t. But they don’t,” Rogers said. “I can assure that is incorrect.”

Rogers went on to say her campaign doesn’t have “an address other than my house!” Rogers uses the P.O. Box address on official campaign documents as well as her website.

Steve Bousquet asked why Purple Bird Communications was formed in Delaware instead of Florida. Rogers told him she has someone else that handles contracts. When Bousquet read the P.O. Box address from the report, Rogers said, “that sounds familiar.”

Rogers denied that any family member was involved in Purple Bird Communications.

Rogers promised to provide more answers to the editors. Judging by the endorsement of her opponent, it appears Rogers never came up with answers.

Broward voters deserve answers before the August 23rd open primary, no?