Keep Running, Beverly

By Bob Norman Wed., Sep. 23 2009 at 7:53 PM

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Mike Stocker/Sun-Sentinel

This amazing photograph was taken by the always-excellent Mike Stocker of the Sun-Sentinel. It is, of course, Beverly Gallagher running out of the courthouse with her family and a particularly zealous videographer.

Gallagher looks like she's in a daze, like she can't believe this moment is really happening. Her face seems frozen, zombie-like. No matter how much you hate corruption, you should get no joy from this. You should be grateful that a law enforcement agency finally decided to clean up this town a little, but on a personal level, there can be no satisfaction. I don't believe Beverly Gallagher is necessarily a bad person; I believe she let herself be swept up in a bad

county, in a bad system, full of other people undone by their own venal and baseless ambitions. Lobbyists made her feel like an elite, and she started to believe it. And elites deserve some extra money, don't they? If not, what's the use of being an elite? Elites can take what they want, right? The rules don't apply to the elite, or they damned well shouldn't.

Beverly Gallagher, of course, is no elite. None of them are. She's a regular human being with all the foibles that go along with it. She's an ex-housewife who got involved in the freaking PTA, a woman who put the bribe money in her own doggy bag. She's not an evil human being; she's a weak human being. And she just happened to fall into one of the worst crowds you'll ever find: Broward's ruling class.

Once someone like Gallagher gets sucked into the vicious vortex of Broward politics, it's very hard to ever come back. It's sort of like being born again to a family of grifters; once you've high-rolled in Broward, you start to see everybody as a mark, every situation as an opportunity to make a sideways buck. No, it's not evil. It's amoral, and that can be much worse, because it slides along tricking the world that it's perfectly fine while underneath it's all full of gnawing cancer.

I'm not a religious person, but I do believe there is only one hope for Beverly Gallagher. She's got to repent. She's got to swear off her former life like a drug addict or serial rapist. She's got to go cold turkey because if she returns to it even in the slightest of ways, she'll return to it. She should swear both of her daughters out of it too. She should move far away from Broward County.

But she won't. They never do.

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Why not just walk to the car?
"Leave it alone and quit talking all high and mighty from your internet anonymity..." So says the person who posted "anyonymous." You're almost as much as a hypocrit as Beverly Gallagher. Nevertheless - True to leftist/statist form, Ms. Beverly Gallagher is a complete and total coward - running from the charges facing her - like a cock-roach who scatters when the light is cast upon it. She doesn't even have the character to address these charges head-on, or to even attempt to deny them (which would be ridiculous anyway, but would, at the very least, make a showing that she is attempting to address them). No, Ms. Gallagher, the criminal coward, runs and hides behind her equally thuggish son. Bravo...such character....and this is a woman who controls the education of public school-children...just what values is she trying to instill? Ms. Gallagher deserves far more punishment than she is likely facing. She has been a blight upon her community for far too long, using her position not to better the education of the children with whom she, and the rest of the leftist School Board, have been entrusted, but to improve her own financial well-being as well as that of her family. It's sickening and I am thankful that she has finally demonstrated the full level of her stupidity by dealing with these undercover Feds. Obviously, her greed knew no bounds and she has finally been revealed to be the degenerate criminal that she is. To think that this woman, along with her statist/leftist board members, believe, so self-righteously, that they know what's best for the public school-children of Broward County, by FORCING them to "listen" to Obama's speech to schoolchildren, and by furthering their leftist agenda upon unsuspecting kids, then, by night, accepts bribes to do nothing other than line her own pocketbook, is infuriating. If you need any more reasons to send your child to private school and/or home-school them, now you have it. This woman should no more be trusted with school-children than should the deviants at ACORN. She is just like them. Kudos Feds...thank you for finally exposing this criminal degenerate for what she actually is.
Bad things happen to good people. Get over it.. If some obnoxious reporters shoved cameras in my face and stood in front of my car I'd flick them off too. Would anybody really expect an interview from people clearly darting to their car? The paperwork is in and whatever punishment that follows is on the way.. Leave it alone and quit talking all high and mighty from your internet anonymity.
SO MUCH WORK FOR SO LITTLE MONEY, THEY'VE CHEATED MORE. THEY SHOULD LEARN FROM THE EX-TAIWAN PRESIDENT CHEN WHICH TUCKED AWAY BILLIONS. THESE PEOPLE ARE DUMB.
Talk now says: "Ann, after the recent article displayed your connections, you should talk also, before you and your connections get pulled in." What are you kidding me? You're too stupid to blog here. Ann was running for Hollywood City Commission in 2005 when this all started. Just because she has accepted contributions from builders, they all do, does not mean she has done anything wrong. In fact, she has not voted for one project bid on by a single one of her campaign contributors...next time, check the financials before inserting your dirty foot in your mouth you dimwit. People like you make me puke. Ann Murray is the first of the new guard who will lead the charge to make things whole again and renew integrity at the School Board. Give her a chance and quit blowing baseless, immature smoke.
Happy, yes, happy that I am still around to witness this. As I have said before, I would like a front row seat for her trial. Cast stones and you will get hit.
Before a bunch of you SPINNERS go off half cocked about how fucked up the Pulp is, or how Beverly is a hack and easy prey for the FBI, just remember that the way to get the head is to grab the tail and follow it up. Machine leaders in this town are well insulated and hard to get at. But following the money and the transactions is easier when you have the tiger by the tail instead of being in the tiger's mouth. Now, as for Notter, Garretson, Carter, Kraft, Parks and the others, they are truly rethinking their cost/benefit analysis they did before they got into this. Unfortunately, Uncle Donnie cannot do much with that Phys Ed degree that will help him now. As we speak the people who used to fear and/or respect (mainly fear) these people are going to take great joy in exposing them. Why??? Because nobody likes an asshole...even another asshole. Also, as we speak the feds are analyzing and reanalyzing every piece of data that they have gathered and it has been much. Do you all think they would dedicate over four years to this operation to take down three officials? Did anyone notice the number of co-conspirators noted in the indictment complaint documents? There is much more to come? But know that every new indictment or complaint will continue to implicate even more rats. I agree with the sentiments of those who say to the electeds and upper level managers...cooperate. Be proactive. Remember that your arrogant and pompous personna will buy you nothing when you are in the cross hairs of every cable news network when they catch on to this story. In a way it was good for the first three because the real circus will start when three turns into thirty-three. Cable news needs to fill 24 hours of programming per day and this is what they live for. I can already see all of the national news trucks parked all over downtown Ft. Lauderdale waiting for a glimpse of Kraft, Ritter, Notter, Rubin or Neil. Who wants to be the star of the show??? If you go to the authorities and tell them what you know, maybe you too can have breakfast with your family while others are dragged from their beds or snatched while walking their dog. It is now up to you. But the bonus is that you might be able to shave months or years off the time that you'd otherwise spend in a lonely place where your political clout means "SHIT". So what do you think??? Want to sign up???
I have no syhpany for crooks like bev. She is an dishonest woman,only out for her self that is why her cards were shown. What is done in the dark will always come to light. She tried to self inrich her self,well she did self inrich her self, so she got just what she deserves.People will sell there soles for the mighty dollar. Shame. Go Feds do your thing. Along time comming.
She is a good lady and got caught up in some bad stuff. I wish her and her family the best.
OK this is for the Ahole (Talk_Now) you are entitled to your opinion but before you go running off at the MOUTH and talking CRAP might you wanna re-read the indictment, yes Bev what she has done is wrong and hopefully she speaks up and save whats left of her life, and as for some of the others do the crime and you will do the time. I also saw the comment you made refering to Ann about her recent articles and her connections, I re-read all of the blogs in here and not once was mentioned stated about connections, are you that freaking stupid that you just make shit up. ANyone here correct me if I am wrong and I am willing to admit if I am but didnt this FBI sting operation begin early 2005? When was Ann elected to the school board? Nov 2008, so you tell me Ahole (Talk_Now) what would she have done? NOTHING all her voting records are public record why not go and pull these said records, before you go foaming crap from your mouth and talking SHIT in here about someone who had nothing to do with this EYE-SORE SCANDAL and PUBLIC CORRUPTION STING.....I dont defend or make excuses for what has been done by anyone, and I can only hope that others are also going to be held accountable, but not everyone is guilty but then again the news and others always wanna guilt someone by associations which isnt right or fair, but thats our society today.
The world will be a better place when Jack Thompson makes his final exit from it.
Pulpman needs to set aside his humanity and not let up on these disgraced public officials and soon to be convicted felons. The only modicum of sympathy that should be extended here is to the families of these greedy dirtbags, who now have to suffer the indignity of hearing how their loved ones betrayed the public trust and used their elected positions to steal from the taxpayers so their already-wealthy friends could put more money into their overflowing bank accounts. The only "deal" that should be offered to these disgraced politicians is to spare their families the ordeal of a public trial in exchange for an agreement to go down for the max and give up the names of everyone they had any dealings with in the culture of corruption in which they flourished like bacteria in a petri dish. Governor Crist should also revoke their retirement pensions immediately upon their convictions, but they can always get around that by finding someone with a Crist connection and lobbying for the restoration of the their pension (see Kenne Jenne). Pulpman, you are no doubt a caring person who does not personally enjoy hurting people with your words. That is a good quality to have, and one that I assume many of your readers share with you, but sometimes our jobs require us to set aside our humanity and stick to the facts. These are smart people who knew exactly what they were doing when they were led down the path to the garden of public corruption and asked to drink the kool aid. They are no different than the repeat violent offender who beats up old women for their purses (they just didn't get caught until now), and in many ways they are a far worse cancer in our society. That saddest part about all of this is that even if we throw the bums out in the next election, they will in all likelihood be replaced by equally corruptable but smarter sheep who are already bought and paid for with election contributions by the time they take office. I am sure there are thousands of capable, ethical and uncorruptable citizens in Broward who could do a better job running our government, but it is virtually impossible for them to raise campaign funds when a few well-connected lobbyists and law firms, with their bundled campaign contributions, are the ones that really control our elections Now that we see how easy it is to rig bids in Broward County, and how casually it is done (do you want a legal campaign contribution or an envelope of cash?) it is inconceivable that this was an isolated incident. I hope to see more of these disgraced public servants making the courthouse dash in the near future, and less sympathy from the Pulpman for their unforgivable betrayals of the public trust. Kill em all and let God sort em out. Where is the Jewish Avenger when they need him?
Apparently, the Gallagher Clan didn't take any classes in Perp Walk 101. The little kid looks like he's high stepping it and the dude in the back is being swept up by a gust of gravity. Come on folks. This is your moment in the sun. Have some dignity. You're going down Bev, so why not look cool doing it?
Hi Pulp, A colleague of mine at the PBPost wrote this great commentary on newspaper Web site galleries and their general implications for our existence. Might make a great link on the Pulp. http://www.wmhartnett.com/2009/09/24/these-stupid-useless-photo-galleries-are-stupid-useless/
To reinforce what another commenter said, the man in the picture (and videos) is not Gallagher's son. I agree with the tone of the article; good people make mistakes. This doesn't take away from the consequences, but it is a part of the world, and it's better than a world in which all bad things are done by all bad people. That would be more difficult to mitigate and reconcile. Some of our mistakes are called out by bosses, parents, etc. The mistakes of others are called out by authorities and the media. As always,I look forward to seeing the good that can be done in and by Broward County. Again though, the man in the picture is NOT Gallagher's son.
I may never understand the validity of "sting" operations by law enforcement. What does it prove? Maybe that many people have the propensity or predisposed disposition to commit a corrupt act if it is presented. That goes hand in hand with , "everyone has their price". That is probably a given. Would these same individuals have the ability to create the same event as the ring leader, rather than the dupe. It would be much more impressive to catch the public servants who are the ringleaders, not the ones who are corruptible numbheads who can't see the charade they volunteered for. Catching idiots is easy. Catching the pros is much more difficult. Maybe law enforcement isn't up to that task. They need to bring something with more substance to the table. This is shooting fish in a barrel.
Jack: You are like a staph infection that just won't be cured. You could not help yourself and infect another blog thread that has nothing to do with you and your suicide mission against the Florida Bar. Jaablog got it right when they banned you from their blog. Do us all a favor and just go away.
Maureen, you are too old and feeble to last in prison, so you should talk now before they come and get you and maybe you�ll get a lighter sentence. Robin, you do want to be around to see your daughter graduate from middle school, don�t you? Well, you should talk before you are summoned. Phyllis, tell all you know. You must talk now before they turn against you and leave you out there by yourself. Jennifer, in prison you will definitely be some Butch�s bitch or maybe a couple of Butch�s bitch. You really should talk and soon unless you don�t mind being a Butch�s bitch. Bob and Ben, you two don�t have long so talking for you two is moot. You both are going down. Ann, after the recent article displayed your connections, you should talk also, before you and your connections get pulled in. Ah, Stephanie, the defiant one. You�ll never talk. So there is only one word for you. Goodbye! P.S. Maybe Mitch will talk. You all should take a look at the map below. http://news.muckety.com/2008/09/09/kevin-ring-is-the-latest-abramoff-associate-indicted-on-corruption-charges/4932 All of your phone records are being analyzed by some very competent people. What will your phone records tell? To spare your families situations like the one with Beverly, talk and talk now.
And then we have the endemic corruption of The Florida Bar, which owes an apology to ever lawyer, like Sean Conway, that it has whacked for telling the truth about certain judges. Consider: John B. Thompson, J.D. 5721 Riviera Drive Coral Gables, Florida 33146 305-666-4366 amendmentone@comcast.net September 23, 2009 Ken Marvin Director of Lawyer Regulation The Florida Bar 651 E. Jefferson St. Tallahassee, FL 32399 Re: Formal Florida Bar Complaint against Mayanne Downs, President-Elect of The Florida Bar, FB# 754900 Dear Mr. Marvin: Here is my formal Florida Bar complaint against the above individual. The sworn-to details are these: Mayanne Downs, who apparently does not have enough to keep her busy, with her law firm duties, her parenting obligations, and her august obligations as president-elect of The Florida Bar, has decided that the world is not complete without her owning and operating a blog found on Al Gore�s Internet at http://www.mayannedowns.com/. Among the many incredible facts we learn about Ms. Downs is that she was born in the Zodiac Year of the Monkey, that she liked her nanny more than her mother, and that she has outworn her �born again� experience as a child. What is most interesting, however, is that Ms. Downs has chosen to violate Florida Bar Rule 4-8.2(a) with a wholly gratuitous swipe at a now-sitting judge appointed to the bench by Governor Crist. You can see her comments in a piece she has written about how wonderful the Orlando Sentinel is. She describes this jurist as follows: �� and a thoughtful (and cogently written) story about another political hack being appointed to the bench by Governor Crist, possible because of the changes to our judicial nominating system back in 2001� (emphasis added) This yet �another political hack� would appear to be The Honorable Michael Rudisill, as described in the wonderful Orlando Sentinel by reporter Scott Maxwell in an opinion piece at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-maxwell-judge-power-082309,0,2957375.column. Note that Ms. Downs does not only refer to Judge Rudsill as a �political hack� but �another political hack,� the statement meaning that Governor Crist is people the bench with a number of �political hacks.� Ms. Downs� gratuitous comment about not just one judge but a number of judges clearly violates Florida Bar Rule 4-8.2(a) as The Bar is applying that Rule. Sean Conway, for example, never went this far as to Judge Aleman. He went after Judge Aleman, on an Internet blog, as Ms. Downs has, but with a fact-based criticism of how she was handling cases. Proof that it was fact-based is that the JQC whacked Aleman for the things Conway was accusing her of. Ms. Downs, on the other hand, has prejudged not just one jurist but a whole bunch of them, with no basis other than that they are�oh no, hide the children!�conservatives. And by the way, the reporter�s criticism that Judge Rudisill has �only� taken 40 cases to verdict in his brief legal career shows how ignorant the reporter is. That�s a lot of cases to take to verdict, and Ms. Downs surely knows that. By contrast, my Bar Referee, Dava Tunis, never practiced law outside the public defender�s office and yet was placed on the bench by Jeb Bush after an unremarkable career. She then was placed on a complex Bar disciplinary matter�mine�with no experience and no training as a Bar referee, and she butchered and then aborted the Rules of Civil Procedure because in her entire legal career she had no experience whatsoever with them. I demand that The Florida Bar investigate, prosecute, and punish severely Ms. Downs. As a Bar officer, which she identifies herself as on her egomaniacal blog, she should not be questioning the �integrity� and/or �qualifications� of sitting judges in violation of Florida Bar Rule 4-8.2(a). And if there were a Rule against hypocrisy by Bar Governors, she should be deported. I SOLEMNLY SWEAR, UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, THAT THE FOREGOING FACTS ARE TRUE, CORRECT, AND COMPLETE, SO HELP ME GOD. Signed, John B. Thompson Copy: Judge Rudisill Governor Crist Media
That picture looks like a surreal rendition of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road. Throw in a little "Help!" and it is vintage Beatles. I feel for the future problems Beverly Gallagher faces. I feel for her daughters. I don't feel for Phil, the baby daddy with anger issues. BTW, he is not Bev's son. What I will do is give Beverly and every other fish caught up in this dragnet some good advice. Tell it all. Do not try to show loyalty to the devil. Tell them who the cartels are. Tell them who the pushers are. Tell them who the users are. There are many more indictments to come. No good can come from trying to show loyalty to a lost cause. Tell the whole truth. Tell them how the scheme was concocted and executed. Tell them who the good guys are; there are some. I say that 15 to 20 will be indicted before this whole thing wraps up. Then it is up to the apathetic voters to take this wake up call as an opportunity to take back you own county and services and accountability of those elected to represent "we the people." Beverly...you finally have a chance to do the right thing. Think of the people's lives you've helped ruin by siding with board members when getting rid of staff just because they rejected the ways of a corrupt machine (Rebecca Blackwood for one) and think of all of the times you voted to spend money for the "children" when it was really for some darker and useless purpose. Beverly, you have a chance to show the world that you were a human who made a mistake and that you are truly sorry about what it turned you into...not just sorry that you were caught. There is no honor among thieves, so do not try to protect the honor of the others. Look at how Mike Garretson has already turned on you. That nasty little Irish guy has gone all Judas on you. You know what happens when the cock crows for the third time. Don't be a martyr...repent.
Zero sympathy because these greedy turds have put me and other Broward taxpayers on the hook for millions of dollars of unnecessary school construction. Lock them up for decades and feed them bread and water I hope the law puts them all away. I encourage Gallagher to rat out the others....I hope she is pressured
No Pulp, Joy at this sight is justified, warranted even. They steal for years and assume they won't be caught; let them sweat the consequences. Their actions proclaim their disdain for the law, for voters, for everything they pledged to protect and uphold. Let them run from the courthouse; they cannot hide (if only because The Pulp is shadowing them). Three years in the medium house? How about 5 or 7 or 10? You, Mr. Pulp, have this habit of knocking down the bad guys and then showing some sympathy. A few weeks ago in your blog about the corrupt black pol you felt obligated to drift into an indictment of the IRISH in Chigago no less, and even JEWISH pols in Broward. Wishy-washy, Mr. Pulp. You can do better. No need for that. A felon is a felon, and your excellant blogs today show that. Continue doing your job, as you do so well, and eschew the hand wringing and PC "balance" as regards these scum. Now go say a Novena for the redemption of that hack's soul
Whodunit Well, well, well. We all now know one Whodunit. Beverly, you should sit down with the feds, a good corned beef sandwich, a kosher pickle and a Dr. Brown� Cream soda and let all out. Tell them all and tell them everybody else Whodunit
Every one keeps talking about the small amount of money that these scumbags sold out for. Remember this case grew out of the deals with a single contractor undercover FBI agent. The school board and county deals with hundreds of contractors and even if a low percentage pay money under the table to "play ball" it is a huge amount of payoffs. Marsha
I am glad I live in Fort Lauderdale where we have a great Mayor in Jack Seiler who is honest, really cares about our residents, works hard and treats all, friend and foe with respect. Sadly there is not enough written about him and too much written about these crooks.
I stand by Beverly Gallagher. She is a phenomenal human being and a fantastic mother.
Hey Guy, I see you were pissed off with the camera men but you did not have to rough them up, they were just doing their job. Maybe you should be pissed off with the FBI agents, but again they were just doing their job. Hey, here�s a thought, get pissed off with Bev for putting her family in this position as she was NOT, doing her job.
The images in the photograph are surreal, almost like it was staged.
Pulp, I really, really, really enjoyed the way you wrote this article and paired it with this photo...if only she would take your advice.
What ever happened to the concern about one's name? It may be old school, but does anyone remember their mother speaking about the importance of being honest and the importance of the family name? The importance of not doing anything wrong to disgrace oneself? Is money, and such a small amount, worthy of losing self worth? Holding oneself to a higher standard seems to be a thing of the past. Is it all about what one can get, no matter what?. One must ask themselfl, how much money would make me do something that I know is wrong and would make me a lesser person. To many, doing the right thing is foreign.
wow. what ammunition for your appearance on barry epstein live friday at wbzt.com.
I'm not saying she shouldn't do hard time in prison; of course she should. But something tells me she gets off fairly easy. If she does three years, I'll be surprised.
thats him, pre-assault
Who's the buffoon trailing the pack?
watch the video of her lovely scumbag son assaulting the media: Hint to scumbag - you singlehandedly elevated your mother to page a one quality pic, (see above) as opposed to the boring photos of the other defendants calmly walking out of the courthouse. Good Job! Please come to all her court appearances.
Nope - not me Bob. I know too many people that this corrupt school board has literally RUINED their lives and their futures. Good ole Bev - last school year went to bat in a specific school situation where a little ESE girl was horribly interrogated by school personnel and CPS got involved and the poor parents and child - well it was horrible to say the least. Word has it that ole Bev intervened as she "knew" the family and tried to talk them out of suing. Last I heard the suit was going forward though - so guess she didn't have the "clout" she thought she did. You can think what you like about "poor Bev" - but me and what I know - NOPE ain't happenin'. I would love to see a pic of her in the handcuffs and shackles. She made her "bed" and now she gets to lie in it!!!!!!