From North Miami to Broward, North Lauderdale Deputy Clerk Anthony Bonamy has performed political consulting while working on the taxpayers’ dime. Last week, REDBROWARD exposed Bonamy’s ownership of The Tamarac Post website and its ties to controversial Tamarac City Commissioner Marlon Bolton. Bonamy’s website shills for Bolton and Bolton’s political allies. Bonamy’s role in Tamarac politics appears to violate his employment contract with the City of North Lauderdale.

North Lauderdale leaders were so concerned with Bonamy’s “political career” and his use of Marlon Bolton as a professional reference, they prohibited him from performing any political consulting work while employed by the City. North Lauderdale had good reasons to be concerned about Bonamy. According to campaign records and published reports, Anthony Bonamy performed political consulting work while employed by other local government entities.

In October 2017, the Sun-Sentinel reported “Salaries of Miramar’s 5 legislative aides draw complaints.” The newspaper reported how these new aides received salaries between $62,000 and $80,000 per year to perform “secretarial tasks, including planning meetings, taking minutes and dictation, proofreading, reviewing mail, taking phone calls and filing records.” Riggs said Anthony Bonamy helped her plan turkey giveaways, book bag giveways and free mammograms. “The tasks I have requested of my legislative assistant shows my confidence in his ability to accomplish them,” Riggs said.

Riggs told the Sun-Sentinel that Bonamy was “highly recommended by a member of her campaign staff.”

AB CONSULTING & MIAMI POLITICS

According to her 2015 campaign treasurer reports, Miramar Commissioner Darlene Riggs used Countywide Marketing Group, a Miami-based company, to handle most of her campaign work. State records show Countrywide Marketing Group is owned by Anthony Bonamy. Excellent reporting by Stephanie Kienzle of VotersOpinion.com uncovered the ties between Countrywide Marketing Group and North Miami elected officials. Specifically, how those officials helped get Bonamy a job with the City Of North Miami while performing political work for that same official.

Kienzle wrote, “[I]n 2012 when Bonamy was only twenty one, he formed Country Wide Marketing Group, Inc. as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).  In 2013, Bonamy also became its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), replacing his brother, John Bonamy, who was the original CFO.

As of February 19, 2015, when Country Wide Marketing Group, Inc. filed its 2015 Annual Report with the Secretary of State, Anthony Bonamy was still listed as the company’s COO and CFO.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

When Michael A. Etienne was running for re-election as the City Clerk for North Miami, on August 5, 2013 he paid Country Wide Marketing Group, Inc. the sum of $650.00 for “Collect re-election petition.”

According to the personnel records of the City of North Miami, on January 5, 2015, Michael Etienne hired Anthony Bonamy to work in his office as a temporary “contract employee” to “follow up on delinquent BTR’s [sic] and other clerical work, as needed.”

On the Application for Employment, Bonamy checked off the box “City Employee” when answering the question, “How did you learn of this position?”

Hmmm.  I wonder if this position was ever advertised?  Or was it simply created for a Michael Etienne crony?”

According to his online resume, Anthony Bonamy abandoned Darlene Riggs in July 2018, just as she started a tough re-election battle against Dale Holness ally Alexandra Davis. Anthony Bonamy left to create AB Consulting Solutions, a political consulting firm.

Bonamy immediately went to work for Alexis Acosta, a Miami-Dade politician. From August 2018 to November 2018, Acosta paid $4,951 to AB Consulting Solutions for consulting and printing.

On August 28, 2018 Democrat gubernatorial candidate Jeff Greene paid $4,090 to Bonamy for consulting work.

In 2019, Bonamy worked for Miami-Dade and Broward County governments. According to his application with the City of North Lauderdale, Bonamy began working as an administrative assistant for a Miami-Dade School Board member in May 2019. He left after five months.

On October 14, 2019, Anthony Bonamy was hired as an administrative assistant by Broward County Government.

One year later, Bonamy left this job to become deputy clerk for the City of North Lauderdale. Even though taxpayers in two counties were paying his salary in 2019, Bonamy remained involved in partisan politics.

State election records show Michael Garcia and Anthony Bonamy formed the Small Business Alliance PAC in January 2019. Bonamy was named as treasurer. On February 28, 2019, Bonamy’s wife made a $100 to this political committee. For the rest of 2019, the State attempted to get Bonamy to file the required documents showing money raised and spent. After receiving numerous “fail to file” letters, Michael Garcia finally responded to the Division of Elections. On December 30, 2019, Garcia told the State neither he nor Bonamy had the “time to properly maintain” the political committee. It is unclear if the committee raised or spent any funds before disbanding.

It is unclear if Bonamy was prohibited from political work as conditions of his government employment. Also unclear is whether his bosses in Miami-Dade and Broward even knew about his political life.

Michael Garcia, a longtime leader of the Hispanic Vote PAC, is a Fort Lauderdale attorney. He is a lawyer with the Austin Pamies Norris Weeks Powell firm. Burnadette Norris Weeks, the lawyer for former Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, is a longtime ally of Dale Holness. Another attorney with Austin Pamies Norris Week Powell is Dottie Joseph. She paid Bonamy $600 for consulting on her 2018 campaign for the Florida Legislature.

Earlier this month, Marlon Bolton praised Norris Weeks when she received an award in Tamarac.

In video of North Lauderdale Commissioner Regina Martin’s November 2020 victory party obtained by REDBROWARD, Marlon Bolton hugs Michael Garcia as local news declared Martin’s victory. Eleven days later Regina Martin and Marlon Bolton urged the North Lauderdale commissioners to hire Anthony Bonamy.

Why did allies of Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness want Anthony Bonamy to get yet another government job?

How many other government jobs in Broward are filled by political hacks?

Is this simple political patronage or something worse?

Broward taxpayers deserve answers, right?