A disturbing mail piece may be linked to local Campaign

A disturbing mail piece may be linked to local Campaign

By Zoellen Warren

     In the closing days of the August 14th Primary Election, many voters in Broward County received a disturbing a piece of political mail directed at Dr. Rosalind Osgood. 

     Voters were offended by the piece of negative campaign mail. “I was shocked that someone would send a negative piece of mail like that about a person in our community”, stated Patrice George a Pompano resident.

     The mailing in question made numerous allegations against Dr. Rosalind Osgood, candidate for School Board District 5 Seat, including calling her a prostitute. 

     Many in the community were appalled to see that the image of Dr. Osgood was superimposed to appear as if she were behind bars. When asked about the piece, Fort Lauderdale resident Artise Hall stated, “What bothered me most was the picture they used was from when she was going through Chemotherapy for Cancer from a few years ago, which is shameful.”

     Local community leaders began to weigh in. Senior Pastor of Mt. Bethel Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale, Dr. C.E. Glover, was so moved that he wrote a letter to his congregation ad-

monishing the piece.

     “I received calls from many people, from over 20 pastors to Congressman Alcee Hastings upset that someone would stoop to  this level”, said Dr. Rosalind Osgood.

     When asked about the mail, Lauderdale Lakes Commissioner and political veteran Levoyd Williams commented “It is deplorable.  No one should ever want to be elected so bad that they are willing to hurt or destroy the reputation of someone.”

     Others in the community wanted to know if this were legal.  Florida law requires any person or organization sending political mail to clearly put a disclaimer which has the name of the organization and address of the organization. 

     In addition, Florida law requires that the organization must be registered with the State of Florida as a Political Committee. The piece of mail sent stated that it was paid for by the Women’s Ministerial Alliance, but did not include an address. An attempt was made to contact any organization called the Women’s Ministerial Alliance and of those that are registered with the state of Florida, none had any knowledge of the mail piece. Louise Mann, St. George resident, stated that “I was appalled by the flyer insulting a female religious leader and the church. I am 84 years old and I have never seen such disrespect.”

     The printer and mail house that produced the mail provided information that the order was placed by a Lauderhill resident named Omar Terrell. Mr. Terrell would not reply to several requests for comment. How-ever, Mr. Terrell’s background revealed that he was a student at Florida A&M University (FAMU). While at FAMU, Omar and Cory Alston, brother of school board candidate Torey Alston, shared personal fraternal relationships.  Although the Alston campaign has publicly vehemently disavowed having anything to do with the mail piece, many voters feel the connection is just too close.

      “They must think we’re fools to claim they’re not behind this. Why would their fraternity brother pay thousands to send something out if they weren’t part of it” said Fort Lauderdale activist Gloria Brown.

     Spokesperson for the Osgood campaign stated that lawyers have been contacted and they do anticipate filing suit and ethics charges against Mr. Terrell and all others involved. “This is not just for me, but for all women I feel it is my duty to legally pursue a claim to show that this type of disrespectful behavior and these attacks on women from the other side must stop. This is serious business and to use religion to make these types attacks is dishonorable,” stated Dr. Rosalind Osgood.