When Community College Patronage Appointments Go Bad
One way to consider the fallout from a political hire is looking at another community college system where cronyism led to things going very, very wrong.
Journalist Brett Blackledge conducted a Pulitzer Prize winning investigation into the effects of political appointments to the Alabama Community College system. Political patronage in that system resulted in the following types of payoffs and payouts. Sit back and imagine Maggie Brooks’ “MCC Chargeback” on your county tax bill going to fund these kinds of things…
- A foundation associated with the Alabama Fire College (part of the MCC system, as is our training program for firefighters) paid $350,000 for the new house and more for the retirement of the college executive director. These funds had been given to the foundation by the state school system a year earlier.
- Tens of thousands of dollars were set up for scholarships and other benefits for children of administrators of the Alabama community college system.
- A lawmaker sent some of his discretionary funds to a community college, which then provided a scholarship for his daughter.
- The son-in-law of the system’s chancellor was awarded three $2000 a month contracts by community colleges.
- The board of education refused to review these problems, perhaps because, as it turned out, half of the eight members had relatives paid by the system.
- A state legislator used funds from the college system to pay off gambling debts and personal expenses.
- At least fourteen deans, presidents and other administrators were discovered to have relatives within the system.
- And the list goes on: http://blog.al.com/twoyear/ (Click on the period for which you’d like to review articles.)
You can also hear the author of the series in an interview at al.com.
The most recent development in Alabama was the issuance of subpoenas to eleven legislators and Board of Education members as part of the corruption probe. Yep, more of their tax dollars used to prosecute previous mis-use of tax dollars.
Could that happen here, with MCC? More shortly…
could it? of course, the question is when it will happen not could it happen.
Exceptional writing btp. I don’t think many in the area have seen what the outcome of turning the college into a political playground would be. Some people just look at it and think “heck, it’s just another job” or they’ve grown accustomed to accepting that this is the way this administration operates.
Putting it in the proper perspective and realizing the outcome has not been displayed anywhere for the public to view.
In addition to the obvious illegal manuever to add two names of two unqualified individuals too late to the process (and I still contend illegally, as well as the reverse ramifications of litigation by the “true” finalists) this further provides proof that we cannot allow certain processes and institutions in this community to be drawn and fall prey to the large sucking sound coming out of anything attached to G.O.P.
Addendum: Congratulations as well for having the wisdom and the knowledge to put 2 + 2 together. Not one member of the mainstream media was able to connect the dots to the MCC Chargebacks mandated through the “FAIR” plan by Brooks, and the attempted siezure of MCC.
Very good work indeed!
And now Maggie has decided to speak out in this selection process to decry the failure of the Board of Trustees to select any local finalists, and support the action of those members of the Board who added the local two.
http://democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/OPINION02/804020325/1039/OPINION
Here’s what City Newspaper had to say about this today:
http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/news/opinion/MCC+PRESIDENCY:+Brooks+jumps+into+the+fray/
Because what better qualifications can a candidate possess than the fact that they’re from Rochester? How about it folks, maybe we should ask that all of our names be added to the list too?
And what a coincidence - one candidate was the majority leader who held her hand as our community was led down the dead end path of FAIR, Water Authority corruption, etc., and the other? A big Duffy contribution, but he’s paid his Repub dues too. Couldn’t find him by his own name, but when I ran Kessler statewide, there he was. (They’ve got to fix that website.)
http://www.elections.state.ny.us/plsql_browser/CONTRIBUTORB_COUNTY?NAME_IN=kessler&position_IN=ANYWHERE&date_from=&date_to=&CATEGORY_IN=ALL&office_IN=ALL&county_IN=ALL&amount_from=&amount_to=&ZIP1=&ZIP2=&ORDERBY_IN=N
Strangely, Maggie thought it was her duty to remain silent when the PD selection process was going on. Why the switch? Maybe the man behind the curtain thinks that the public will be swayed by Maggie like they seemed to be during the FAIR nonsense, and thus it won’t hurt his Republithugs as much as the PD fiasco did. Not sure. Any thoughts?
I give up.
Rather than letting these selfish, greedy idiots rip us off even more while screwing over yet another public institution, I propose that we just buy them off.
How much would it take for Bill Smith and the rest of the asswipe Republicans on the county leg to accept a one way ticket out of the county in exchange for a legally-binding promise to never come back? 1 million, 2 million? 5? 10?
In the long term, just giving them the money they so obviously crave is probably cheaper than the cost of lawyers, cops, destroyed institutions and damaged public trust. I say that 10 million to send them all to the “Redneck Riviera” with Karl Rove is chump change.
Admittedly, $1 to send them all to Attica with a guy named Weasel is more viscerally satisfying, but I’ve watched this circus for 3 years and 2 elections and I haven’t seen a criminal charge yet.
Lead the charge for change Thomas. Start figuring out how to get rid of her. If you can impeach a President and a Governor…there must be a way to dump at the county level.
Cut the head off the snake and teach them all a lesson. Start digging. Talk to a lawyer. Go stand in the parking lot at MCC and start collecting signatures.
Impeach, remove, recall, something - anything.
The time is up - she has to go.
[...] haven’t read yesterday’s article about the Pulitzer Prize winning investigation into Alabama Community College’s patronage corruption, you have to do that now.ÂÂ Seriously.ÂÂ Click here, and read, it’ll just take a minute. [...]