The more we find out about David Esposito, the contractor who was allegedly paid double the work he did for the Broward Teacher Union, the more sense it makes.
This was a deal made in the political world from the get-go.
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Esposito, as reported here yesterday, was paid $190,000 over the course of two years for renovation work on the BTU building. An audit by the American Federation of Teachers found the amount was twice the amount the union should have paid him.
An executive board member told me that the work by Esposito and his Marstan Construction company for the union had been a point of conflict between BTU President Pat Santeramo, who arranged the Marstan work, and the board for months.
Santeramo and Esposito have apparently known each other for decades. Back in 1992, Esposito ran for the Broward County School Board, according to published reports (hat tip to Red Broward). At the time Santeramo was already serving as executive vice president of the BTU, which plays a deep role in school board elections.
Esposito in fact comes loaded with political connections. At the time he started doing the work, he was a member of the Broward Housing Finance Authority (after being appointed to the position by former Broward County Commissioner Ben Graber in 2002). He stopped serving on the Authority in 2010.
Esposito is also a long-time official in the Broward Democratic Executive Committee. Records show he's currently a committeeman at the DEC, which continues to be headed by lobbyist Mitch Ceasar. He's also a former president of the Coral Springs Democratic Club.
And it gets even more interesting: Esposito and his Marstan firm gave a total of $1,000 to the Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink's campaign on May 22, 2009. Also giving $500 was a Maureen Esposito, believed to be his daughter of the same name.
On that very same day, BTU board member (and Davie Vice Mayor) Caryl Hattan, BTU office manager Arlene Marotta, BTU spokesman John Ristow, and other union officials also contributed $500 to Sink's campaign.
Those Sink contributions were reimbursed by Santeramo with union funds in a matter that is now under criminal investigation by the state. Were Esposito's contributions also reimbursed with union money? That's not known but it would seem to be a good question for the State Attorney's Office.
When I contacted him on the phone yesterday, Esposito would answer no questions. Instead he referred me to his attorney, Michael Moskowitz, who also happens to represent Pat Santeramo. Moskowitz is of course another Democratic official and lobbyist with close ties to numerous politicians, including Broward County commissioners Stacy Ritter and Ilene Lieberman.
One more piece of trivia about Esposito: In 1990, he ran against (and lost to) politically connected engineer Tom McDonald for a seat on the Port Everglades Commission. From a Sun-Sentinel article at the time: "David Esposito, 41, a contractor from Coral Springs, based much of his campaign on attacking McDonald`s political alliances and business ties to the port. McDonald`s firm does work for the port as well as other county government agencies."
Looks like Esposito picked up some pointers from McDonald as well.