All Articles Tagged "corruption"
Harry Thomas Jr. to Repay D.C. $300K
(Washington Post) — D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. agreed Friday to repay the District $300,000 to settle a city lawsuit that alleged he diverted public funds from youth programs and used some of the money to pay for luxury cars and expensive trips. In a settlement that will avert a civil trial but does not shield the Ward 5 Democrat from possible criminal prosecution, he also agreed not to head up any charitable organizations for at least five years. Although Thomas did not admit wrongdoing, the settlement underscores the growing legal and political pressures facing several high-profile District leaders accused of ethical misconduct. The case also stands as a significant early accomplishment for the city’s new attorney general, Irvin B. Nathan, who has stressed that he will aggressively pursue allegations of mismanagement or corruption at city hall.
Gray’s Campaign Woes Hamper His Administration
(Washington Post) — Nearly eight months into D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray’s administration, he has been unable to shake the misdeeds of his 2010 mayoral campaign. Rather than being able to move forward with a clear message on how he’s running and changing the city, Gray has been dogged by mounting allegations that some members of his campaign acted illegally.
A Leadership Crisis is Afflicting the District
(Washington Examiner) — “There is a crisis of leadership in America,” Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich said Sunday during an appearance on “Meet the Press,” adding that the problem isn’t just in the political arena. Anyone paying attention to District affairs during the past six months would second that sentiment. There has been a palpable absence of vision and a dearth of courage. Regrettably, there also has been an overabundance of unethical and other questionable behavior by many city leaders, particularly politicians.
Opportunity vs. Ostracism: Nigerians in Japan Face Constant Balancing Act
(Japan Times) — The Nigerian Union in Japan is the central civic organization for immigrants from Africa’s most populous nation. It has foundered twice in 21 years and its current incarnation is less than a year old. Its mixed history is a reflection of the social and economic turmoil Japan’s Nigerian community has endured over the past two decades. Members have been factory laborers, globe-trotting entrepreneurs and nightlife industry pioneers. They’ve also been blamed for some of Tokyo’s most publicized crime problems, notably a series of drink-spiking and bill-padding incidents that led the U.S. Embassy to issue a warning in 2009 against visiting Roppongi. With the exception of those incidents, their history has hardly been written about. Union president Honorable Okeke Christian Kevin knows he has inherited an image problem that verges on unfixable, but which must be addressed if he wants to increase his constituents’ social mobility. To that end, the Nigerian Union has held two fundraisers to benefit tsunami victims, hoping to portray Tokyo’s Nigerians as socially conscious immigrants invested in the welfare of their adopted home. The second occurred during several months of reporting I dedicated to the Nigerian community.
Ex-School Official, Board Member Indicted in $800k Scheme
(Chicago Sun Times) — A former North Chicago school board member and her district’s transportation director were accused Thursday of taking kickbacks totaling at least $800,000 over 10 years from contractors who had been awarded lucrative school bus contracts. Gloria Harper, 59, of North Chicago, was a member of the board of North Chicago Community Unit School District 187, and Alice Sherrod, 59, of Gurnee, was in charge of transportation for the 4,000 students, prosecutors said in announcing a 26-count indictment against them and three contractors. It’s not the first time Harper has been linked to an education-based scheme. Just last month, she pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the federal E-Rate program that helps fund disadvantaged schools with computer and technology equipment.
Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Michael Scott’s Apparent Suicide
(Chicago Magazine) — Davis and others who don’t buy into the official line believe that Scott was the victim of a political murder made to look like suicide, carried out by shadowy forces loyal to Mayor Daley’s administration. There are variations of this rubout theory, depending on whom you talk to, but the common thread is that Scott—the backroom fixer, the mayor’s trusted go-to guy—was killed because he knew too much about the supposed illicit dealings inside City Hall. “Folks think he had enough information to cause some people some problems,” says Cliff Kelley, a radio host and former South Side alderman.
Others suggest that Scott might have been killed for financial reasons. At the time of his death, they note, Scott was involved with a string of high-stakes development deals, some linked to the city’s 2016 Olympics bid, as well as a number of smaller-stakes projects in and around his home turf on the West Side. He also had an interest in a fast-food franchise that was bleeding money. A few people once close to Scott have said he may have had far murkier business dealings, including some with figures connected to the Russian Mafia who were trying to develop properties on the West Side. Suspicious minds wonder: Could his death have been connected to a disgruntled business partner? A deal of some sort gone bad? (Probate records reveal that various lenders have been seeking to collect more than $1.5 million from his estate.) “It could’ve come from a number of different angles,” says Davis. “Once you start seeing the puzzle—look out!”
Nuggets of Reform in Illinois Lacking Applause
(Chicago News Cooperative) — In the bowels of Soldier Field, the canny rock star Bono was telling me about yanking his children from an elite Manhattan private school and returning them to a better, public school in Dublin. He said his and his wife’s high-minded New York education hopes had been misplaced. The black leather-clad front man for U2 was soon tugged by an aide — “I have to do a show,” he said apologetically. Within minutes, he was bringing joy to 63,000 with the Irish band’s trademark muscularity, towering props and calls for political reforms in locales as faraway as Burma. I saw one black-T-shirt-clad speck of a spectator among the Tuesday night throng — Mayor Rahm Emanuel a k a The Missile — and sadly realized that he had a tougher task trying to inspire those same concertgoers in a wee bit of reform back here.
Kwame Brown’s 08′ Campaign Being ‘Reviewed’ by Feds
(Washington Examiner) — D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown’s 2008 council campaign is being investigated by federal prosecutors after an audit earlier this year found that he failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions and expenditures. On Thursday, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics officially referred Brown’s 2008 campaign to the U.S. Attorney’s office, choosing to forgo a discussion about fines for the campaign and wait for the firepower of the FBI to determine if any laws were broken.
Where’s Leslie Johnson?
(Washington Post) — The lights in her office are out. She withdrew her last piece of pending legislation. And her colleagues say they haven’t spoken with her. But Prince George’s Council member Leslie E. Johnson (D-Mitchellville) remains on the county payroll and will continue to collect her $1,870 weekly paycheck until July 31, unlessshe steps down before then. A day after the council called for Johnson’s immediate resignation, reassigned her staff, and asked her to return her county car, computer, parking pass and cellphone, it was unclear Wednesday whether Johnson would comply or whether her colleagues would have to ask the authorities to pick up the county property. Council spokeswoman Karen Campbell said she did not know whether Johnson had consented to the request.
Atlanta Cheating Scandal: Should Educators Face Jail for ‘Robbing’ Kids?
(Christian Science Monitor) – With Atlanta in the middle of an unprecedented teacher cheating scandal where at least 178 teachers and principals in more than half the city’s elementary schools changed test answers in order to make themselves and the district look good, the looming question now is whether those educators could, or should, face jail time. Three county prosecutors are now perusing an 800-page report released Tuesday by Gov. Nathan Deal’s office which describes how educators altered government documents and lied to investigators – crimes punishable by as many as 10 years in prison – in order to get bonuses, raise the district’s profile, and pad the résumés of top administrators.
