Was lavish life and Democratic Party built on backs of teachers'?

Even now, as federal agents pore over the financial records they seized from his union headquarters in Miami, Pat Tornillo remains a legend among Florida teachers.

He led the nation's first statewide teachers' strike, a bitter walkout that kept 1-million Florida children out of school but gave public employees the right to bargain collectively.

He built the largest labor union in the South, securing higher pay for teachers who paid him millions of dollars in dues - money he used to help elect dozens of Democrats to public office.

But the 77-year-old Tornillo now faces the biggest battle of his life. Federal agents are investigating whether he also used teacher dues to finance a lavish lifestyle for himself and his wife.

Former employees say he charged the Miami-Dade teachers union for $2,000-a-night hotel suites and trips to Europe and the Far East. According to published reports, he used his union credit card to buy tailored suits in Hong Kong, jewelry in California and python-print pajamas from Neiman-Marcus. He is even accused of using union dues to pay his maid.

Tornillo and his wife, Donna, also own property around the state valued at more than $1-million. Their most recent purchase: a $300,000 home under construction in an affluent Tallahassee neighborhood.

Tornillo, an old-style union boss known for his loud voice and combative tactics, is mostly silent these days.

"I have a personal battle to fight," he said in his only public statement since the federal raid in late April. "I am determined to win that fight and clear my name. The press, however, is not the forum for that fight."

"He was the primary voice for public education in Florida," said Rob McMahon, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association and a Tornillo acquaintance for two decades. "It's a shame to see this kind of scandal at the end of his career."

Tornillo's critics - and he has many - describe him as ego-driven, antagonistic and destructive to public education. He has been called Fidel Castro, the godfather and president for life.

But one of the things raising hackles now is timing. According to the Miami Herald, which has outlined his alleged offenses in considerable detail, Tornillo's spending became particularly egregious even as teachers were facing pay cuts or trying to avoid layoffs.

During a recent 30-month period, Tornillo and his wife charged an estimated $350,000 to the United Teachers of Dade, reported the Herald, which said it inspected Tornillo's credit card statements, union checks and financial records.

The spree came on top of the $243,000 salary Tornillo received annually as union president. He is now on unpaid suspension.

Gary Landry, who was hired by Tornillo to work for the state union, said he questioned the spending and told Tornillo it was raising eyebrows.

"There is so much extravagance and waste," said Landry, who now works for the James Madison Institute, a conservative think tank in Tallahassee. "I always thought it was wrong. If I were a teacher paying dues I would say, "Why do I support this?' "

He came to Florida from New Jersey in 1956, after doctors insisted on a warmer climate for his oldest son, who had rheumatic fever. He started teaching that year, joining the Dade County Classroom Teachers Association.

Tornillo was soon running the union, which he led for four decades. Until three years ago, he also ran a state teacher's union, the Florida Education Association/United.

In 1968, Tornillo led 35,000 teachers on a statewide strike. He was convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to jail for instigating the walkout, which lasted three weeks. The case was appealed and he never did any time, though educators and many parents considered him the enemy. Some teachers never got their jobs back.

As a result of the strike, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that teachers and other public employees have the right to bargain collectively with management over wages, hours and working conditions.

"Young schoolteachers don't know about history," said G. Holmes Braddock, who served on the Miami-Dade County School Board for 38 years. "There's no question they are getting several thousands of dollars more a year because of Pat."

Tornillo also was a political force. Over the years, he helped elect dozens of Democrats to local and statewide office. In 1998, he was honored by 1,000 people at a $100-per-person banquet organized in part by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles.

But Tornillo's political power waned in recent years as Republicans took control of the Governor's Mansion and the Legislature. Conservative leaders want programs that unions consider a threat to public education: taxpayer-financed vouchers for private schools, charter schools run by private groups with public money.

On April 29, federal agents walked into the union's new $20-million headquarters on Biscayne Boulevard and seized boxes of financial records. They took Tornillo's appointment calendar, expense reports, reimbursement forms, bills, receipts, credit card statements and union payment records.

Among the records: receipts for a $10,200 trip to St. Barts and other Caribbean islands, a $4,158 shopping spree in New York City and a $1,032 tab at a Robert Talbott clothing store in Carmel, Calif., according to the Herald.

"It was quite shocking to hear," said Lois Frankel, a former Democratic leader of the state House and now mayor of West Palm Beach. "Pat Tornillo has been an institution. If the allegations are true, it's obviously very disappointing."

"He was leading the lifestyle of the rich and famous," said Damaris Daugherty, a Miami lawyer who founded the Teacher Rights Advocacy Coalition, which is looking to replace Tornillo's union. "Teachers' benefits continued to erode while he and his friends made millions of dollars."

According to property records, Tornillo owns two homes on St. George Island in the Panhandle, including a 3,000-square-foot beachfront house with a dune walkover. He also owns a townhouse in Tallahassee and is constructing another house in that city's Hermitage subdivision, home to some of the city's most prominent residents.

Miami lawyer Thomas Spencer is representing David J. Albaum, the union's former financial consultant, who is cooperating with federal agents. Spencer said union officials knew about the properties, which he thinks are part of the federal investigation.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said agents know he has several properties, but would not comment on the investigation.

Ron Sachs, who has talked to Tornillo several times since the raid, said his longtime friend is intent on clearing his name.

"Obviously he's concerned about this," said Sachs, a media consultant who also worked as Chiles' communications director. "It's the most important fight of his life."

Federal investigators are trying to determine whether Pat Tornillo, the longtime head of Miami-Dade County's teacher union and one of Florida's most prominent labor leaders, used union dues to support a lavish lifestyle. Below are some of the estimated $350,000 in expenses Tornillo and his wife charged to the United Teachers of Dade during a 30-month period:

- Times staff writers Lucy Morgan and Julie Hauserman, and researchers Cathy Wos, Deirdre Morrow and Aakash Patel contributed to this report.

No, it's about a union. This was no aberation. I've gone back and read the Miami Herald coverage of this story since it broke in April. There's so much shocking detail there I don't know what I find most disturbing.

But it's clear the state and national unions knew something was amiss. The local had been missing dues payments for years and the state/national unions were "negotiating" with them for late payments. The local made promises, then failed to pay. More "negotiations". In other words, there were plenty of warning signals, but (one article says) the larger entities were concerned about negative publicity which might impact membership so they didn't inform stewards or board members. They were also concerned about weakening the local's political clout. After the Dade unit failed to catch up on dues it owed the national affiliate, "...the FEA paid the local union's national dues so (local) members could vote on union policy at the national convention."

Check this out:
______________________________________________________
(From the Miami Herald)

On the morning of Nov. 19, 2002, United Teachers of Dade President Pat Tornillo excoriated school leaders over low teacher salaries and demanded ``a hunt for spare dollars that could go toward raises.''

But Tornillo himself wasn't so frugal. That night, he spent teachers union dues to stay in a $2,000-a-night suite at the Mandarin Oriental hotel at Brickell Key. Tornillo slept eight nights at the opulent hotel and charged it to a UTD credit card.

Total cost: $20,138.53.

[You will read below that his own condo was only 300 yards away!]

``I went ballistic when I saw that Mandarin bill,'' said David J. Albaum, the union's in-house financial consultant, who reviewed the UTD's credit-card statements. ``A $2,000 room for a nonprofit union? Come on.''

The Herald obtained 21 months' worth of the UTD chief's credit-card statements, union checks and financial records that show the union paid credit-card charges totaling at least $350,000 between September 2000 and this March, with little or no scrutiny. Among the charges:

The Sinclair Intimacy Institute -- whose motto is ''Better Relationships, Better Sex'' -- Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, ABC Liquor, Sharper Image, even the historic Ahwahnee hotel in Yosemite National Park in California.

From the Neiman Marcus catalog, the 77-year-old Tornillo bought a pair of python-print pajamas ($175.73) and a matching robe ($149.10).

Pat and Donna Tornillo globe-hopped, often first class, through Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the Far East. Pat Tornillo charged $1,441 worth of tailored suits in Hong Kong and $978.26 in souvenirs in Thailand. Donna Tornillo, 56, charged $1,800 worth of designer clothing in one day in New York. The couple charged almost $4,000 at a jewelry store in Carmel, Calif.

Teachers' dues paid for it all, which Albaum said left the union so cash-strapped that it had to take out loans just to get by.

''We paid all his bills,'' said Albaum, who reviewed outgoing payments, but admitted that he never confronted Tornillo. ``We paid Southern Bell, the cable company, FPL. He didn't try to hide anything.''

FIGHTING FOR SALARIES

Many of the expenditures, UTD records show, came at a time when teachers were fighting for raises, facing pay cuts or trying to avoid layoffs.

Last November... (after union negotiations)Tornillo retreated to the Biscayne Bay Suite at the Mandarin, costing $2,000 a night. High over the bay, the 960-square-foot unit features bamboo floors, a marble open shower, a deep-soaking tub and floor-to-ceiling windows, offering guests an unparalleled view of Miami. That night, Tornillo charged $84 worth of beverages from the in-room bar.

During his eight-day stay, Tornillo regularly ordered room service, used the bar, had clothes laundered, and lounged in the spa.

He checked out on Nov. 23, charging it to a UTD American Express card.

His rental apartment is just 300 yards away.

Albaum said Tornillo caught so much grief over the Mandarin bill that he wrote the union a personal check to cover the charges. Albaum said that several weeks later, UTD bookkeeper Judy Bowling issued Tornillo a check to pay him back.

''I saw the check,'' Albaum said. ``It was for the same amount of the Mandarin charge. He turned around and had Judy B. reimburse it.''
___________________________________________________________

There were plenty of people who had knowledge of this. I must, however, retract one thing I said earlier. After reading all this I found that the cheif financial officer, James Angleton, was the one who tipped off the FBI. The union tried to fire him, but he's fighting for his job under Florida whistleblower laws.

Here is a link to all related stories which have appeared in the Miami Herald:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/education/5953173.htm

I noticed that same line....had to read it 3 times to understand he was referring to union history! Irony, yes.

I just sent the following email to the two reporters who have been covering this story for the Miami Herald:

I go to the Miami Herald on-line each morning and have been following your coverage of the UTD scandal.
The June 4th article, it seems to me, is misleading. It says, "...the American Federation of Teachers moved Tuesday to contain a growing scandal by announcing new measures to ensure its locals' finances are in order.
Among the measures, the national union will be able to order outside audits of its affiliates, conduct internal investigations and inform local members of any problems they find."
However, if one goes to the AFT website and reads the actual resolution, it only provides for such audits after a local union is 2 months in arrears on its dues to the national union. Even then, there is a lengthy process before the state affiliate and local union members would be informed of the arrearage. As I read the resolution, it could be as long as 5 months after the due date before such notification. (Read the actual resolution here: http://www.aft.org/about/resolutions/2003/accountability.html)
There is another provision that "where a required biennial audit or financial review has not been performed and made available to members and received by the AFT within six months of the close of an affiliate's fiscal year" the national union may conduct an audit. Was UTD filing such "required biennial audits"? If so, they were obviously not very rigorous. If not, why weren't there recriminations? Is this new provision really a safeguard of members' interests?
As long as a local is paying the national dues within 4 or 5 months of the due date and submitting some kind of biannual (self?) audit, its activities will not be closely scrutinized by the national union....at least that is what the resolution indicates. Not to mention, we learned in your reporting that the national had been "negotiating" with the local for a long time regarding their late payments.
After financial scandals in Washington D.C. and Miami the AFT has a conflict: No more scandalous headlines vs. rigorous protection of members' dues.
As a former auditor, I would not consider this reolution as adequate oversight to "ensure" local finances.

_________________

We'll see if I get any kind of not-canned reply. But I intend to keep following this story.

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