FAA watching ESL finances (again)
Remember when you were in elementary school and one kid always seemed to have a hard time “getting it,” no matter who the teacher was or how “it” was explained?
It would seem that, similarly, the learning curve is fairly steep when it comes to certain East St. Louis officials and their capacity to maintain financial independence for ESL.
For the past 15 years, the finances of ESL have been subject to intense scrutiny; and for 10 of the those years, the state-appointed Financial Advisory Authority (FAA) has overseen ESL’s day-to-day finances.
Just three months ago, autonomy was returned to ESL after certifying that the city had passed 10 consecutive balanced budgets (don’t applaud yet).
However, there was one last stipulation: a 2004 audit (due August 30) and a final balanced budget, to be submitted by December 2005.
Now, one would think that after 10 years of oversight these guys would “get it.” Right? Wrong! Refer back to the clueless kid in the classroom.
It seems that auditor Johnny Campbell was unable to obtain requested financial documents and records from the city library and ESL police and fire pension boards. That resulted in the submission of a “no opinion” audit, which was deemed as non-compliant, according to Ken Gearheart, executive director of the FAA.
The FAA, in turn, sent a certified letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich regarding the inconclusive audit. The governor then restored the FAA’s powers, tentatively, until 2013 or until ESL repays the bonds which were issued (by the state of Illinois) to bail the city out of bankruptcy.
Somewhere, in the transition between four ESL city managers (in 2005 alone), obvious miscommunication and ineptitude among those at the library and the police and fire pension boards, ESL’s financial football was dropped, literally, at the goal line, on the brink of ESL financial autonomy.
After 10 years of undergoing the same process someone should have had a clue! Mayor Officer, when contacted, felt that the simplest solution would be to repay the state bonds. He also implied that he felt that in working in concert with newly installed City Manager Charles Means and the FAA, oversight would only be a temporary situation.
Let’s hope so, because East Boogie has enough headaches to resolve. Recently, the city authorized the payment of $100,000 to settle a sexual harassment claim against three senior ESL police officers, not to mention a pending sexual harassment claim by Shantez Lockett, 28, against former City Manager Robert Storman.
Storman fondled Lockett, exposed himself and demanded a sex act while the two were alone in his office, alleges Lockett in her lawsuit. Storman retired, suddenly, in January.
Convicted felon (and city employee) Sheila Thomas recently accused TIF Director and ESL School Board President Lonzo Greenwood of encouraging her to falsify an affidavit for a Tax Increment Financing Department (TIF) home improvement grant. Subsequently, the entire TIF program is under review until an independent auditor assesses its status.
It’s almost as if ESL leadership gravitates toward bondage and humiliation. Dr. Carter G. Woodson said it best in The Miseducation of the Negro. “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. He will find his “proper place.” You do not need to send him to the back door. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.”
East Boogie, on the verge of independence, has cut her own backdoor. The question is, does she have the will, the integrity and the vision to seize control of her destiny and cast off the mental shackles of irresponsibility?
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.