Fairbanks school board chair accuses three Interior lawmakers of taking $70,000 bribes

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The quality of the Fairbanks School Board was on full display on Tuesday night, as Brandy Harty, president of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Board of Education, spoke of her disappointment in three Interior lawmakers who voted against a mega-spending bill that would have given districts $680 more per student each year going forward, without any expectation of improvement in the quality of education and without so much as a fiscal note.

During her dramatic remarks, Harty sobbed through her condemnation of three Fairbanks legislators, and then accused Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, Rep. Mike Cronk, and Sen. Robb Myers of taking $70,000 campaign contributions in exchange for their no votes. In other words, she accused them of taking bribes for their votes.

She then beseeched the journalists in the audience to not quote her on that, because it was just a rumor that she had heard. Watch her spread a rumor accusing lawmakers of felony crimes in this video clip from the March 19 school board meeting:

Harty also said she would give Rep. Mike Prax of North Pole “a pass” since he never voted in favor of the legislation to begin with.

She was reacting to proceedings on Monday, when the Alaska Legislature failed to override a veto from the governor on Senate Bill 140. The bill started out as authorizing legislation for rural broadband improvement, but ended up being the vehicle for the National Education Association Alaska to get the extra locked-in funding formula it has been lobbying for over the past few legislative sessions.

There are other education funding bills in process in Juneau, but Harty had her heart set on SB 140 as being the only one that could possibly meet her expectations.

Harty, a former special education teacher, is the recipient of generous union campaign contributions. In her last race she received support from APEA/AFT (American Federation of Teachers, and Local 52 PAC, ASEA/AFSCME, which gave her $1,200 for her campaign for school board. She has been lobbying for a higher base student allocation for months.

Recently, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District was shown to have cooperated with the campaign staff for Rep. Mary Peltola, in helping her put together a campaign event at a North Pole school during school hours, which is a violation of law. The record shows that the district administrators assisted the campaign in breaking the law.

38 COMMENTS

  1. Holy crapola 😎.
    As a conservative, I’ve run in the socialist “Union” state of Western Alaska three times for offices in Juneau.

    Lyman Hoffman is loaded with Union donations and donations from the who’s who of the Union Mafia cartel of respected out of district mobsters. He hardly gets a donation from anyone in the district of a sizeable amount.

    Even Tiffany Zulkosky’s APOC showed the same Union donors.

    So having this experience with elections, even though I came out on the losing side, I’m proud to say I’ve never been bribed by the Union. Not one pennies worth.

    Look at APOC. Dial up Hoffman, Zulkosky, Bishop, Kawasaki…. Then dial up the three accused legislators that had the integrity too say no to the Union Thugs…. You’re going to see one helluva difference in the campaign donation patterns…. Which is going to shine a negative light on anyone but these three outstanding legislators that are fighting too make sure that “legislative intent” isn’t the law of pretend land for teacher bonuses, pay raises, classroom funding or to the UNION’S total loathing disgust….. Reform for Charter Schools.

    I think this woman is as far off base as the list of Lower Kuskokwim School District Thugs that filled the back row of the House chamber for the SB 140 Veto vote this week.

    All of them should be booted from office or positions. They took an oath to serve the public, which means staying out of politics and weighing and measuring the value of every issue brought forward. Going to Juneau is crossing a political bridge to far, same as throwing false accusations from the elected position you hold.

    Damn, it’s no wonder Alaska is ranked #1 in corruption, which Fairbanks and Bethel doesn’t seem to mind in the Senate when their officals sellout their constituents and join the Binding Caucus, which is illegal in 49 States…….

    • Great assessment of the union cronies Willy.
      It’s sad more of the public is not more informed of the outside funding of the “chosen” reps who are bought and paid for with corrupt money and foreign interests.

      Stay in the fight. If you cant compete with the big money winners at least we can shed light on the corruption.

    • You must have deduced that from a Google search, because I also searched her name. Brandy Harty the lawyer is in St. Louis. This Brandy Harty is a retired teacher, as alluded to in the story.

  2. What a Drama Queen she is. Our schools deserve a better school board than the ones we have now.

  3. Crying seems to be the hallmark of school board chairs these days when things don’t go their way. Maybe all the kids who will be deprived of their PFD’s over the years, which accumulated & saved, go along way toward paying for post secondary education, either vocational or academic, should all start open weeping.

    And on campaign contributions, she is the pot calling the kettle black.

  4. Sleazy. But what else is new?

    They took money, but don’t quote me.
    Either stand by your comment or don’t make it.

  5. Ah, the bitter crocodile tears of a radical leftist.

    Mix them with TDS mouth foam and a shot of vodka (non-Russian, of course!), and they make the perfect Screwball cocktail.

    • Ukranian vodka tastes so much better when it’s subsidized by Uncle Sugar’s taxpayers.
      Taste that? You taste that?
      Ukranian Vodka, son. Nothing else in the world tastes like that. I love the taste of Ukranian vodka in the morning… The taste, you know that Ukranian vodka taste? Tastes like… victory.

  6. If one is going to be a leader one needs to take care of their appearance and attire always being conscious of their facial expressions, since cameras are on them. You don’t want to be caught looking like that photo or the unbecoming Recall Zalatel photo. Or don’t be in public office at all if physical appearance and expressions aren’t important. Good grooming and etiquette is a detail feature of a good worker, if they aren’t detailed how they look them what else is that leader not conscious about?

  7. Good Grief!
    What is she, five years old? This is an actual school board president and not an early April Fools joke??
    Talk about unprofessional, undignified and pathetic. I hope the maligned lawmakers take her to task and demand a retraction and apology for her accusation.

  8. “Harty sobbed through her condemnation of three Fairbanks legislators, and then accused Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, Rep. Mike Cronk, and Sen. Robb Myers of taking $70,000 campaign contributions in exchange for their no votes. In other words, she accused them of taking bribes for their votes.” — Hmm. Isn’t that much like the school district offering “education contributions” to homeschooling families in exchange for their enrollment numbers and data? Bribe or benefit, both equal manipulation. But wait! One is merely a rumor, the other is a statewide practice.

  9. What she Sniffling about anyway.
    Is that the type of leader do Fairbanks want one who Cries under stress. This is the kind of leader who Cries in public before going behind doors and screams and vents at the closest person around them be a team member or family member.

  10. Why is Brandy Harty, president of the Fairbanks North Star Borough not being sued for defamation and false accusations of the three state legislature representatives. She is causing slander and making a mockery of our school board and government system. Now for revenge she also wants to close schools IE Eielson AFB and others because she is not getting the 240 million she demands from the State and Taxpayer citizens. This is what the Fairbanks School Board voted for this past Tuesday. She should be sued and removed from her position immediately. Liberal Democrats sue anyone that gets in their way. Brandy Hartty should have her day in court and be exposed also.

  11. Anchorage voters: VOTE Pohland, Schuster, & Frank for ASD School Board! Stop the Woke, restore expectation of excellence in our schools! Don’t put Jacobs in control of your children.

  12. Harty herself took $$$$ bribe money from the teacher’s unions. Why is she b——g? Everyone knows that’s why she is even on the school board to begin with. Another “well placed” commie puppet. Sort of like Scott Kendall’s brother in law, Grier Hopkins, who’s also getting his meal ticket punched by the teacher’s unions.

  13. I live in Fairbanks and have joined the Moms for Liberty up here. People have testified for years against the CRT, DEI and SEL being taught. The schools teach against America, omit Patriotism, oppose Parents’ rights, have porn in the school libraries, have required curriculum with Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Angela Davis, and Angela Davis as the heroes in America. There are no character building curricula at any level. In sex ed, they call the students “humans” not children, or people. That is a false teaching of evolution. They are promoting queer theory, which is a cult. So much more is being ignored and being taught. Teachers are being trained in white supremacist oppression and other colors being oppressed by whites. Does any of this promote good citizens in our community? Will it make adults with integrity or a sense of right and wrong? Will there be adults from this influence who will help Fairbanks to thrive? Where is the work ethic, honesty, integrity, etc. in this curriculum? Pray for our community and for our country. Pray for an awakening and a revival!

  14. The Supreme Court gave us the right to openly criticize government officials, New York Times vs Sullivan 1964. As long as she TRULY believes this took place she can say it. This is a case that is the standard today ! One government official attacking another government official in this way is just gross and awkward though ! I agree with Dunleavey. The entire State of Alaska education system needs an overhaul. Throwing money into a sinking boat will fix nothing !

  15. Stapp must have broken his trust with the conservatives and gone squealing over at the teacher’s union for campaign money. Enjoy your brief tenure in the House, Stapp. You won’t get another dime from me. And I’ll be voting for your Republican or Democrat opponent this fall. I like to know who my enemies are, rather than second guess a pretend ally who breaks when the going gets tough.

  16. Unbelievably sad turn of events. Why repeat rumors without backup? We learn this in gradeschool. These legislators have worked very hard on finding solid solutions for Alaska education, there’s zero basis to this insidious claim. She needs to hear from their attorneys.

  17. We all need to pay more attention to school boards, their attitude, actions and results. Schools take a huge chunk of any municipality budget, drive property taxes and don’t provide results which give us individuals with an education that can provide a workforce. Success should be judged by qualified for a job, not just by college admissions.
    My 15yr old granddaughter has been provided updates on this bill every day by teachers, it’s all I can do to calmly explain the reasons, strategies behind the veto/override issues and not demand equal time.

  18. Go easy on her folks.
    Its not easy keeping up with Margo Bellamy at ASD.
    Fairbanks citizens have every right to elect their scum of choice to compete in the decimation of public schools in Fairbanks in the same manner as the Bellamy Bryyaantt Regime is doing in Anchorage.
    (excuse my spelling…I can never remember how many double letters in its name)

  19. Harty is not only unprofessional, but has a tendency toward using tears to promote whatever she wants. Ethical? Not hardly Harty. RE-CALL is in order. As soon as possible which I have been told is April 20th or so to May 1. We’re coming for your job!

  20. When’s the next meeting I would love to make my ex special ED teacher cry. How many signatures we need to remove her??

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