Santeramo Paid Off Because Contracts Are “Sacred Commitments”
AFT is in a tight spot. It took control of the Broward Teachers Union in order to put a stop to BTU’s financial mismanagement while heading off a power struggle between BTU president Pat Santeramo and a faction of the local’s executive board. That has been accomplished. Although some are worried about BTU’s cash flow, AFT will certainly float a loan and give the local a very long time to pay it back – just as it did in Miami after the Tornillo scandal. And the administratorship of John Tarka expires in six months, giving the union ample opportunity to arrange for new elections.
Though the just-in-time resignation of Pat Santeramo saved AFT and BTU from the exposure of how business was routinely conducted during his tenure, it still hangs overhead, like a threatening storm cloud. And the rumbling thunder is from the financial settlement due to Santeramo.
BTU owes Santeramo $255,020 in unused vacation and sick leave. If there were no scandal, and Santeramo had simply decided to resign, the payment would have been made without a second thought. However, with an expulsion hearing called by the union executive board, an AFT administratorship, and a sudden resignation, members can be forgiven for believing that something must have been wrong. And if so, why is Santeramo being paid off?
With the Santeramo resignation requiring secrecy and the payoff requiring transparency, Tarka decided to split the difference. In a letter to members, Tarka defends the transaction:
We must honor this commitment. In thousands of contracts across the nation, AFT locals and school districts negotiate sets of work rules and compensation packages. Our members correctly view those agreements as sacred commitments that must be honored. Here in Broward County, we expect the Board of Education to honor the commitments it makes to us. Likewise, we have an obligation to hold up our commitments to others, as well.
Honoring our commitments is more than a legal obligation. It is a statement about our character and a fundamental value we teach our children.
As long as The Battle Hymn of the Republic is playing in the background, we might as well ask how this arrangement squares with the championing of due process. It’s reasonable to believe that the union has a moral obligation to pay Santeramo. But was there a moral obligation to negotiate a resignation in private and cancel the expulsion hearing in the first place?
Tarka’s nod to the problems that brought forth his administratorship takes the form of reducing Santeramo’s payoff by the amount AFT claims he was overpaid during the last six years, plus credit card charges he made that lack documentation – a total of $56,000. Tarka believes this will satisfy all parties and avoid a “potential protracted legal battle that would distract us from the union’s important business and cost the BTU thousands of dollars in lawyer fees.”
He may be right, but it seems he’s giving short shrift to an important variable: Santeramo.
The legal opinion upon which Tarka based his decision states, “While there is a question as to whether under the law BTU has the unilateral right to do so, we believe that such an approach is fair and reasonable under the circumstances. Given the situation at hand, we believe your acceptance of this risk is a defensible business position.”
If Santeramo takes his money and runs, so too will all accounting for what happened, because no one involved wants to spend time explaining why the failure to pass along national and state dues hikes was never questioned by BTU officers and representatives, or why continued budget deficits and drawn-down reserves never provoked any response, or whether there was any legally actionable wrongdoing (although the state attorney and the elections commission may have final say on that question).
But if Santeramo demands his full payout, he may use Tarka’s statement and legal opinion for himself. In it, Tarka admits the union owes him this money, and Santeramo might demand proof in a court of law that a) he was overpaid by that exact amount; and b) that his credit card charges should not be reimbursed. Despite Tarka’s effort, it will be Santeramo’s decision whether there will be a “protracted legal battle.” It would be ironic if the resignation deal ends up causing the public fallout it was meant to prevent.
