FL Teachers' Union paid for chief's opulent lifestyle - $2,000-a-night suite raised red flags

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.

``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.''

Tornillo's spending is at the center of a federal grand jury investigation to determine whether the longtime union boss spent teachers' dues on personal luxuries.

Tornillo referred calls Friday to his attorney, Robert Josefsberg, who did not return three calls seeking comment.

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.''

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, Tornillo sat across from Miami-Dade County Schools Superintendent Merrett Stierheim and demanded pay raises for teachers and protection from layoffs for teachers' aides. He insisted that new salaries be retroactive, warning that he would negotiate ``until hell freezes over.''

''No longer are we willing to accept that you don't have money,'' Tornillo told the school district's negotiating team.

Later, 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.

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.''

The Mandarin charge, records show, was not the only indulgence. On Sept. 24, 2000, Pat and Donna Tornillo jetted to San Francisco, then to Australia, New Zealand and back to California.

They visited the world-renowned aquarium in Sydney and bought $332 in women's clothing the next day. In the New Zealand mountain resort of Queenstown, they charged $852 at the Bonz Gallery and $487 at the Queenstown Gallery of fine art.

In California, they landed in San Francisco and drove to Carmel, where they strolled among the town's famous cypresses and spent $1,310.94 on Christmas collectibles at Kris Kringle and $3,900 for a necklace and gold ring at Concepts Jewelry.

Their next stop down the Pacific Coast Highway was the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur. The cost on his corporate credit card: $4,279.87 for a few nights' stay.

The Tornillos drove back to San Francisco to end their vacation at the Bay Area's Mandarin Oriental, where they racked up a $7,306.24 bill.

The three-week vacation cost at least $49,715 -- equivalent to the annual salary of a schoolteacher with 15 years of experience and a master's degree. In terms of the union, it cost the annual dues of 59 teachers.

The following year, the Tornillos jetted off to Switzerland, India, Thailand and Cambodia for a two-week vacation that cost at least $27,000, union records show.

In its review of union checks for that trip, The Herald could not confirm that every expense was covered by the union, although much of it was placed on corporate credit cards.

Overall for this report, The Herald reviewed about $444,000 in credit-card expenses, with $350,000 in corresponding checks.

Albaum said the union paid all of the expenses. He said Tornillo simply turned in his monthly statements to Bowling to be paid.

Albaum acknowledged that he approved many of the checks. He never confronted Tornillo and never told the executive board during its monthly meetings. His explanation: 'Tornillo demeaned people. He'd tell them, `Get outta here.' ''

Albaum said the board never questioned Tornillo either. In one financial report prepared for the board, Tornillo's spending is listed under a line item, ``Community Affairs and Organizational Relations.''

Albaum said he showed the charges to UTD Secretary-Treasurer Shirley Johnson, who expressed concern.

''I thought it was her job to do,'' he said. ``She said she would talk to Pat and even went to lunch with Mrs. Tornillo on Jan. 28 to talk about the spending.''

On Jan. 17, Johnson sent an angry e-mail to Tornillo, claiming that her signature was being stamped on checks that she had never seen or approved. All union checks required both Johnson's and Tornillo's signatures.

Johnson wrote that she had met with Albaum, Bowling and James Angleton Jr., the UTD's chief financial officer, about ``using our signature stamps and stamping both of our names on checks we never see or sign.''

''I sent an e-mail eight months ago about this and was very disturbed to find out that my e-mail was ignored and this is still going on,'' she wrote.

Neither Johnson nor her attorney, H.T. Smith, would comment for this report. Albaum recalled the meeting and said Bowling was the one who used the stamps.

Albaum joined the UTD 18 months ago at the request of Angleton, his friend for 15 years. Angleton -- who knew that the union was hemorrhaging money -- says he was tipped off to the questionable billing on Feb. 25 by Tornillo's longtime colleague Murray Sisselman, the former union president who died of cancer several weeks later.

Union officials and their attorneys question the pair's motives in going to the FBI, which led to the investigation. They say Angleton, as the chief financial officer, was in a prime position to know about the union's spending -- and do something about it -- long before his meeting with Sisselman. None of the officials or attorneys would be quoted for this report.

On Sunday, The Herald reported that Angleton turned over to authorities records showing that Tornillo and his wife charged at least $155,000 for personal items, including antiques, a St. Bart's vacation, California spa visits, custom clothing, even groceries.

Tornillo earns $243,000 a year in salary and benefits. That includes a $42,700 stipend that is supposed to cover his business expenses, Angleton said.

UTD spokeswoman Annette Katz declined to say whether Tornillo has a contract that covers his personal expenditures. She also refused to provide a list of union-related trips that Tornillo took.

On April 29, FBI agents raided UTD headquarters and hauled off all the credit-card statements, expense reports, Tornillo's appointment calendar and more. Tornillo then took a leave of absence.

Three days after the raid, Albaum said, Tornillo returned to UTD headquarters with a stack of personal expenses.

Tornillo and his crooked cronies even tried to stael money from teachers who wouldn't join the union. The entire union leadership needs to be investigated!!

Posted on Mon, Jul. 22, 2002

Teachers union wants fee from nonmembers
BY DANIEL A. GRECH
dgrech@herald.com

The United Teachers of Dade wants Miami-Dade County schoolteachers and others who aren't members of the union to pay an ''administrative fee'' to help cover the cost of negotiating new contracts that would benefit all district staff.

Under the proposal, the school district would deduct hundreds of dollars a year from the paychecks of about 12,000 teachers, media specialists, counselors, teachers aides and office employees who aren't union members -- and send it to UTD coffers.

If approved by the School Board, the fee would be the first of its kind in Florida, some labor law experts say. Those experts add that it is unclear whether the fee is even allowed under the state's restrictive unionism laws.

The UTD is currently negotiating new contracts for raises and benefits. The final agreement will apply to all of the district's teachers and support staff, regardless of whether they are UTD members.

''Those who don't pay dues get a free ride,'' said Pat Tornillo, president of the 16,000-member UTD. ``The fee provides a mechanism in which all members of a bargaining unit pay their fair share of the costs of bargaining a contract.''

Dues-paying members would not have to pay the negotiating fee because it is incorporated in their dues.

`IT'S INSANE'

Word of the proposed fee has not circulated widely among nonunion teachers.

''It's insane that the UTD wants to take my money for negotiations,'' said Victoria Schoenwiesner, 30, a fourth-year teacher at Nautilus Middle School and a former UTD member who dropped out after two years. She had not heard of the plan until she was contacted Friday.

''The reason I'm no longer part of the UTD is I paid $800 a year [in dues] and had no idea what they did with the money,'' she added. ``If teachers were happy with the UTD, it would have more members.''

Earlier this year, 16,543 school employees -- 59 percent of the approximately 28,000-person bargaining unit -- had union dues taken from their paychecks. Union officials said their membership is higher because some pay dues in cash.

`FEW FOR MANY'

Annual dues for a full-time teacher are $831.20 -- a fee the union says subsidizes the cost of negotiating for nonmembers.

''The few have provided for the many,'' UTD general counsel Leslie Meek said. ``It's time for all teachers to provide their fair share.''

Tornillo presented the fee plan to district officials in June during the first round of contract negotiations, which could last for several months. It was the last of the UTD's 38 negotiating points.

''We just got the proposal and haven't begun negotiating yet,'' said district spokesman Mayco Villafaña. ``It's premature for us to make a statement one way or another.''

APPEAL

''I don't expect the Dade School Board to approve it,'' Tornillo said in a phone interview from Las Vegas, where he was attending an American Federation of Teachers conference. ``That will give us the legal option to go to court.''

Under state law, the union can appeal the district's decision to the Public Employees Relations Commission in Tallahassee, a governor-appointed, three-member board that rules on issues involving public employment and unionism in Florida.

If PERC were in turn to reject the proposal, the union could take its case to the state appellate court.

UNION PRESENCE

Many Northern states with strong union presence, such as Michigan, have labor laws that allow unions to charge a bargaining fee.

Florida, like many Southern states, is different. It is a ''right-to-work'' state, which means a person doesn't have to join a union to hold a job.

''I don't think [a negotiating fee] is legal since this is a right-to-work state,'' said Lee Cohee, a staff attorney at PERC for 25 years. ``But I don't have any knowledge of the issue ever being presented to the commission for a judgment.''

Tornillo said teacher unions in parts of the country with labor-friendly laws have imposed on nonmembers a negotiating fee -- amounting to 70 to 80 percent of regular dues -- to help pay for contract negotiations and associated expenses.

Tornillo said the UTD fee would likely be a similar percentage of dues. He added that in the states that have it, the fee has reduced membership dues for union members because negotiation costs were spread more broadly.

District officials said the union proposal may be a way to overcome recent drops in membership -- a charge the union denied.

Tornillo recognized the proposal could encourage more teachers to join the union because the added benefits of membership would not cost much more than the hefty negotiating fee.

''This increases the possibility that more teachers will join the union,'' Tornillo conceded.

''The history of these fees in other places is that a majority of people who pay 80 percent of dues will end up joining the union to get the rest of its services,'' he said.

Tornillo said the union plans on using an unusual argument to justify the fee: Because attorneys must pay dues to a bar association to practice law, the union should be able to require teachers to pay a fee.

`A CLOSED SHOP'

''The legal profession has a closed shop; you can't practice law unless you belong to the Florida Bar,'' Tornillo said. ``We're not even asking for a closed shop. We're just asking non-dues-paying members to pay a fee equivalent to what dues-paying members pay.''

The PERC's Cohee said it is a novel legal argument: ``I've never heard that one before.''

UTD officials recognize the proposal faces a tough road ahead.

''We're trying to do something a little innovative here by going around the back door,'' said Annette Katz, UTD spokeswoman. 'It's not fair that it costs us a fortune to do others' work.''

The winds of change are blowing across south Florida. There is a serious move on to challenge the entrenched RATS holding the UTD. If you are a teacher and belong to the UTD in Miami Dade County and you hear of a new slate of "reform" candidates running for the executive board of the UTD....embrace them!! I can tell you without reservation that at least ONE of them and possibly more is a FREEPER!

Should these reformers come to power among their first priorities will be to ensure that the president of the UTD is paid exactly $1.00 more than the highest paid teacher in the county. Further many department heads in the union will either be eliminated or folded into other departments to cut the fat and streamline the organization.

ALSO, the marriage between the union and the Democratic Party has been an unmitigated disaster. This too will change so that the union is seriously (beyond lip service) engaged with both parties to help strengthen the positions of teachers. A lot of left wing liberals are going to cringe at this policy, but it is the only political course that makes sense. Like the blacks in the democratic party and the gunowners in the Republican Party....teachers are taken for granted by their political "spouse" and ignored by the opposition because "their votes are out of reach anyway."

If BOTH political parties realize that we will support those who support US, they'll do more in the way of meaningful outreach and dialogue. This new board will influence curriculum and some of those running are NRA certified Firearms Instructors. There is a possibility that the extreme left wing agenda could straighten out if not veer to the right a bit.

Finally...don't ask me how I know all of this...ssshhhh! It's a secret.

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