Apr 19
jonpeltoBridgeport, Ethics, Malloy, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas Bridgeport, Conflict of Interest, Ethics, Malloy, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas
As a member of the Bridgeport Board of Education, Hernan Illingworth took actions that directly benefited him and the company that he works for.
That is an ethics violation.
It is a serious ethics violation and it requires action.
Mayor Finch, the state is waiting to see how you handle this issue.
The Bylaws of the Bridgeport Board of Education: Policy 9270: Conflict of Interest
“(1) No member of the Board shall have any direct pecuniary interest in a contract with the school district, nor shall he/she furnish directly any labor, equipment, or supplies to the district. It is not the intent of this bylaw to prevent the district from contracting with corporations or businesses because a Board member is an employee of the firm. However, in such instances the member may be expected to declare his/her association with the firm and will refrain from debating or voting on the question.”
The spirit of the Conflict of Interest rule is simple enough.
If you are a member of the Bridgeport Board of Education and your job is with a company that is connected to the functioning of the school system, you are expected to declare your association with that company and abstain from discussing or voting on issues related to the products or services provided by that company.
Hernan Illingworth works for Uniformz. He sells uniforms to students and families who attend Bridgeport’s schools.
As reported here at Wait, What?, according to the company website, the uniform company that Illingworth works for opened a much larger, more accessible store on Main Street in July 2009 in preparation for the implementation of Bridgeport’s new uniform policy.
As the company’s website explained, “The main reason for this move was to handle the school uniform needs of Bridgeport parents after a new uniform mandate (K-8) went into effect for the 2009/2010 school season.”
The website goes on to report, “Uniformz quickly became the “ground zero” of the back-to-school uniform rush! The Bridgeport PAC held a press conference, TV news crews arrived throughout August and our overflowing parking lot caused some minor traffic jams on Main Street.”
The Bridgeport PAC mentioned on the Uniformz website is the Bridgeport Parent Advisory Council and Hernan Illingworth was the President of that Parent Advisory Council.
Ramos/Illingworth Letter to Parents
In fact, in the spring of 2009, John Ramos, in his capacity as Bridgeport’s Superintendent of Schools and Hernan Illingworth, the President of the Bridgeport Parent Advisory Council (PAC) were on the cover of the Bridgeport Board of Education Newsletter.
That cover was a letter to parents and students informing the community that the Bridgeport Board of Education had formally adopted a mandatory uniform policy for K-8 students. According to the letter, “This policy was enacted after several months of meetings and with collaboration between parents, the Board of Education and District Administration. The letter informed parents that the mandatory school uniform policy would officially be enacted in August 2009.
The letter ended with the news that, “In the coming months the District Executive PAC will work with every school to provide more information to parents to ensure the implementation of the policy.” It was signed by John J. Ramos and Hernan Illingworth. However, nowhere did Hernan Illingworth explain he was a salesman for Uniformz.
CT Post Covers Uniform Policy
On August 31, 2009, the CT Post’s Linda Conner Lambeck wrote a story entitled, “FOLLOWING A NEW UNIFORM CODE.” In it she wrote, “Outside Uniformz, a new shop on upper Main Street, a sandwich-board sign proclaims ‘Bpt. Public School Uniforms, 10% Sibling Discount.’”
Lambeck added, “On Wednesday, if the policy works, a sea of nearly 15,000 students, all wearing collared shirts, and dress trousers — not a baggy pair of jeans in the bunch — should converge on the schools for the first day of classes.”
The story listed Hernan Illingworth as the President of the Bridgeport Parent Advisory Council (PAC) and as one of the parents who successfully pushed the uniform policy. However, the story failed to note that Illingworth worked for Uniformz.
The CT Post did explain that, “planners anticipate a child can get by with a wardrobe of three to five pairs of pants, six tops and a sweater for about $120. Logos, for schools that have adopted them, would be an additional cost.”
At the time, Hernan Illingworth told the CT Post that it would take time to get full participation in the uniform policy, but added, “If we get 75 percent on the first day, I think that would be a nice goal. Once the 21-day grace period is over, I think participation will become more universal.”
In April 2011, the Bridgeport Board of Education voted to expand the district’s uniform policy to cover high school students. At the time, the CT Post wrote, “Hernan Illingworth, president of the District PAC, said uniforms were a much easier “sell” this time around because the policy is already in place in the elementary schools.”
Illingworth appointed by Malloy Administration to illegal Board of Education
By the end of that summer, in August 2011, Hernan Illingworth became the seventh member of Bridgeport’s new, illegal Board of Education. As noted on the Only in Bridgeport Blog, Illingworth was the “second Finch campaign supporter” named to the Board, the first being Finch’s campaign treasurer, Kenneth Moales.
As the Only in Bridgeport blog reported, at the time, Finch’s campaign website included a testimonial by Illingworth in which he wrote, “Being both the Mayor and a father to children in Bridgeport Public Schools puts the Mayor in a unique position. His commitment and dedication to improving education shows.”
As the request of Stefan Pryor, Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, the illegal Board of Education then brought on Paul Vallas to serve as Bridgeport’s Acting Superintendent.
One of the initial actions following Vallas’ arrival was the creation of the Bridgeport Education Reform Fund. The Chairman of the illegally appointed Board of Education, Robert Trefry, announced that the names of donors to the fund would be kept confidential and that a committee would be created to oversee the distribution of the funds. Trefry then appointed Andy Boas, the Chairman of Achievement First – Bridgeport, Anita Gliniecki, Bruce Hubler and Hernan Illingworth to manage the fund.
As part of Mayor Finch’s slate of Democratic candidates, Illingworth later ran and won a seat on the democratically elected board.
Most recently, rather than abstain from any discussions about school uniforms, Hernan Illingworth has used his position to pressure Bridgeport school administrators to get tough on forcing students to buy and wear school uniforms.
As was reported in Wait, What?
Last week, with only about 40 days left to the 2012-2013 school year, Central High School announced that they would begin enforcing Bridgeport’s district-wide school uniform policy.
As the CT Post wrote, “The edict, made during morning announcements Tuesday by Principal Stephen Anderson and sent home to parents by letter, was ordered by the district administration after some board members learned that the district’s 2-year-old high school uniform policy was being ignored at Central.”
That Board of Education member was Hernan Illingworth…who just happens to be a salesman for Bridgeport based Uniformz, whose website reports that the company is, “the premier local supplier of School Uniforms to the students of the Bridgeport (CT) Public School System.”
In this case, Central High School’s new principal, Stephen Anderson, was not a fan of the uniform policies for high schools, but Bridgeport School Board member, Hernan Illingworth, explained to the CT Post, “I am sorry, that is unacceptable… “It is a district policy. He can’t decide he is not going to do it.”
It is hard to imagine that the violation of Bridgeport’s code of ethics and conflict of interest rules could be any clearer.
Hernan Illingworth was, and continues to be, a major force behind the effort to require Bridgeport students to wear school uniforms.
Illingworth works for a company that proudly proclaims that school uniforms are a vital part of their business.
Rather than announce his conflict of interest and exempt himself from discussions and actions related to school uniforms, Illingworth used his position to push for greater enforcement of the uniform policy.
As a member of the Bridgeport Board of Education, Hernan Illingworth took actions that directly benefited him and the company that he works for.
That is an ethics violation.
It is a serious ethics violation and it requires action.
Mayor Finch, the state is waiting to see how you handle this issue.
Apr 17
jonpeltoBridgeport, Ethics, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas Bridgeport, Conflict of Interest, Hernan Illingworth, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas, Sandra Kase, School Uniforms
Last week, with only about 40 days left to the 2012-2013 school year, Central High School announced that they would begin enforcing Bridgeport’s district-wide school uniform policy.
As the CT Post wrote, “The edict, made during morning announcements Tuesday by Principal Stephen Anderson and sent home to parents by letter, was ordered by the district administration after some board members learned that the district’s 2-year-old high school uniform policy was being ignored at Central.”
That Board of Education member was Hernan Illingworth…who just happens to be a salesman for Bridgeport based Uniformz, whose website reports that the company is, “the premier local supplier of School Uniforms to the students of the Bridgeport (CT) Public School System.”
In this case, Central High School’s new principal, Stephen Anderson, was not a fan of the uniform policies for high schools, but Bridgeport School Board member, Hernan Illingworth, explained to the CT Post, “I am sorry, that is unacceptable… “It is a district policy. He can’t decide he is not going to do it.”
You could call Hernan Illingworth an expert on school uniforms, Bridgeport’s uniform policy and the Bridgeport Board of Education.
Illingworth was a driving force behind Bridgeport’s decision to require that all Bridgeport school students wear uniforms. The Bridgeport Parent Advisory Council, led by their President, Hernan Illingworth, lobbied for a mandatory uniform policy. As the CT Post explained, “Uniforms became mandatory in city high schools in fall 2011, two years after they were mandated at the elementary school level.”
Meanwhile, Illingworth was appointed by the Malloy Administration to serve on Bridgeport’s illegal Board of Education and later won a seat on the new democratically elected Board of Education as part of Mayor Finch’s Democratic slate. Illingworth has been a consistent vote for the team loyal to Mayor Finch and was one of the five members to vote in favor of Paul Vallas’ illegal contract, a vote and contract that is now in Court.
But perhaps most importantly, in his positions as a Bridgeport Board of Education member and school uniform salesman, Illingworth has been able to keep an eye on the implementation of Bridgeport’s mandatory school uniform policy.
In fact, back at Central High School, Illingworth and Vallas’ chief administrative officer, Sandra Kase, were on hand last Tuesday when Principal Anderson reversed course and made it clear that the City’s uniform policy was being reinstated at Central High School. Principal Anderson used the morning announcements to explain that the uniform policy would now be enforced adding, “We need your help … I ask you to come in tomorrow in uniform and the next day,”
According to the CT Post, the Principal’s letter to parents explained the uniforms were needed to ensure school security, writing, “Uniforms help us identify, at a glance, people who do not belong in the building.”
When not spending time on Board of Education business, Hernan Illingworth remains an active salesman for Uniformz, the uniform store located on Bridgeport’s Main Street.
According to the company website, originally known as Nosotros Sports Plus, the company has opened a much larger, more accessible store on Main Street in July 2009.
The website explains that, “The main reason for this move was to handle the school uniform needs of Bridgeport parents after a new uniform mandate (K-8) went into effect for the 2009/2010 school season.”
As the website goes on to report, “Uniformz quickly became the “ground zero” of the back-to-school uniform rush! The Bridgeport PAC held a press conference, TV news crews arrived throughout August and our overflowing parking lot caused some minor traffic jams on Main Street.”
The Bridgeport PAC mentioned on the Uniformz website is the same Bridgeport Parent Advisory Council that Hernan Illingworth presided over.
For more on Uniformz, check out their website http://www.uniformz.com/pages/about-us, including the line, “Our highly talented team members are Juanita, Rita, Nilsa, Hernan and Michele…” Hernan, of course, being none-other-than Bridgeport Board of Education member, Hernan Illingworth.
This is the part of the blog post where we start singing “it’s a small world after all.”
Apr 09
jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Family Urban Schools of Excellence (FUSE), Jumoke Academy, Malloy, State Board of Education, Stefan Pryor Andrea Comer, Conflict of Interest, Fuse, Jumoke Academy, Malloy, State Board of Education, Stefan Pryor
The Connecticut House of Representatives convenes tomorrow at 10 a.m.
On the calendar is House Joint Resolution No. 75. , the resolution confirming the nomination of Andrea Comer of Hartford to be a member of the State Board of Education.
If the General Assembly confirms Governor Malloy’s nomination of Andrea Comer, the COO of the FUSE/Jumoke, Inc. charter school management company, she would be a member of the State Board of Education through February 2017.
While there has been extensive coverage of Comer’s nomination here at Wait, What? there has been limited coverage in the general media.
The entire situation is a sad commentary about what some people perceive to be a conflict of interest and the general acceptance of the corporatization and privatization of public education.
The Jumoke Academy Inc. collects millions of dollars in public funds for its school in Hartford.
In addition, Commissioner Stefan Pryor gave Hartford’s Milner elementary school to the Jumoke Academy to manage. The new Jumoke Academy at Milner immediately dismissed the vast majority of Milner’s dedicated teachers and instituted their own special “operating approach.”
As Wait, What? readers know that Jumoke “operating approach” is based on a strategy of not providing education services to non-English speaking students, students who go home to households where English is not the primary language or to their fair share of students who require special education services.
Instead of taking responsibility for providing a true public education, FUSE/Jumoke Academy responds by claiming that they deserve accolades and additional funds for producing better results on Connecticut’s standardized tests.
But of course, since poverty, language barriers and special education needs are the three greatest influences on standardized test scores, it comes as no surprise that a school that accepts fewer poor students, NO bi-lingual or ESL students and far fewer special education students than its fair share would end up with a population that would have higher test scores.
But the reason that Andrea Comer’s nomination is suspect goes well beyond the discriminatory and anti-Latino policies of FUSE/Jumoke Inc.
Connecticut law frowns on conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest, or at least it is supposed to. Those who have contracts and benefit from state resources aren’t supposed to be in a position to reward themselves or their friends.
If Andrea Comer, the Chief Operating Officer of FUSE/Jumoke Inc., finds herself on the State Board of Education, she will certainly be in a “unique” position to directly and indirectly impact her job, her employer and the industry she has worked so hard to represent. Prior to working for FUSE/Jumoke, Inc. she worked for Achievement First, Inc., the even larger charter school management company co-founded by Stefan Pryor.
In fact, together, Achievement First and FUSE/Jumoke control more than half of the $55 -$60 million plus in taxpayer funds that flow to charter schools each year.
Finally, as we now know, Andrea Comer also has extensive experience with the so-called crime of ‘stealing” public education when she decided to keep her child in one district despite the fact that she moved to another. Comer complains that raising this point was a personal attack and that she was just looking out of the best interests of her child. While Comer, and all parents, should do whatever they legally can to look out for their children, we now know that Comer’s case was treated very, very differently than more recent Connecticut case where a woman was arrested and convicted of “stealing” education.
Sometimes it’s the “little” votes that provide voters with the best snapshot of their elected officials.
The vote on Comer’s nomination is just such a vote.
Any legislator who votes to put the COO of FUSE/Jumoke Inc. on the State Board of Education is sending a very loud and very clear message to their communities about their definition of conflict of interest and their attitudes toward protecting public resources.
For more on Comer’s nomination here are some of the Wait, What? posts on the topic:
Malloy nominates charter school corporate officer to Connecticut State Board of Education
One Adam-12, One Adam-12, we have a COI in progress
Stamford Advocate joins effort to warn about conflict of interest on State Board of Education
The complex issue of stealing public education…Just ask Malloy’s nominee for the State Board of Education
Courant focuses attention on Malloy’s nominee for State Board of Education
Oops, Malloy’s nominee to the State Board of Education didn’t quite tell the whole story
Apr 02
jonpeltoAdam Goldfarb, Charter Schools, Ethics, Malloy, Stefan Pryor Adam Goldfarb, Charter Schools, Conflict of Interest, Ethics, Malloy, Stefan Pryor
Add one more item to the list of real or perceived conflicts of interest surrounding Commissioner Pryor, the State Board of Education and Governor Malloy’s education reform efforts.
It turns out that in addition to serving as Chief of Staff for Connecticut Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor, Adam Goldfarb has been serving as Vice President of the People’s Preparatory Charter School Board of Directors in Newark, New Jersey. Goldfarb also served as an intern for Steven Pryor when Pryor served as the Director of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
Adam Goldfarb was Pryor’s first hire when Malloy’s new Commissioner arrived in Connecticut.
Despite purportedly making $75,000 as a senior policy advisory for Pryor at Newark’s Brick City Development Corporation, Pryor asked Malloy’s Chief of Staff if he could hire Goldfarb as his Executive Assistant at a rate of $99,000 a year plus benefits.
That was just fine with Malloy’s office.
And soon, Goldfarb’s title was changed to Chief of Staff.
And while Connecticut deals with the destructive ramifications of inadequate funding for its schools, Goldfarb’s salary is now up to $106,000 plus those valuable benefits.
But perhaps the most interesting piece of news is that while serving as the Chief of Staff for the Connecticut Department of Education, Goldfarb has been serving as an officer for a charter school in Newark, New Jersey.
People’s Preparatory Charter School was granted a charter by the New Jersey Department of Education in July 2011. The school started with 95 ninth graders in the fall of 2011 and is scheduled to reach its capacity of 380 students in 2014. It is co-located with two other schools in Newark.
According to documents filed with the State of New Jersey, Goldfarb has been with the charter school from the beginning and his term as a member of the People’s Preparatory Charter School Board runs through June 2013.
Of course, we have a Commissioner who co-founded Achievement First, Inc. the large charter school management company and only resigned his position on their Board to become Malloy’s Commissioner of Education. In his capacity as Commissioner he is overseeing policies that are pushing millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to his former company.
More recently we’ve seen Governor Malloy nominate Andrea Comer, a high-ranking official from FUSE/Jumoke, Inc., another charter school management company, to the State Board of Education. FUSE/Jumoke, Inc. is also benefiting from millions in taxpayer funds.
And now we learn that even Pryor’s Chief of Staff is serving on a charter school board of directors.
It makes one wonder…
The list of real and perceived conflicts of interest associated with Commissioner Pryor and the Malloy Administration seem to grow on a daily basis. More to come, but we’ll leave the list as is for now…
Mar 20
jonpeltoCharter Schools, Ethics, Family Urban Schools of Excellence (FUSE), Jumoke Academy, Malloy, Michael Sharpe, State Legislature, Stefan Pryor Conflict of Interest, Fuse, Jumoke A, Malloy, Stefan Pryor
As the Connecticut Legislature prepares to take up the nomination of Andrea Comer to the State Board of Education, the Stamford Advocate has joined the chorus warning that it would be a conflict of interest for her to serve on the Board.
About the controversy surrounding Comer, who serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Jumoke Academy and FUSE charter school management company, the Stamford Advocate wrote, “Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has appointed Comer to the board — raising eyebrows and questions about a conflict of interest. The board has direct oversight of the charter school industry, decides whether to reauthorize charters and votes on funding and the creation of new charter schools.”
“Parents of public school children in the state must be aware: As charter school advocates and professionals solidify their hold on the state’s education policy apparatus, the drive to transfer public funds from traditional public schools to charter schools will grow,” the Stamford Advocate added.
As Advocate concluded, “The overwhelming drive of the state education commissioner and the state Board of Education should be toward improving traditional public schools, which are responsible for educating the vast, vast majority of children in the state. Their focus should not be on expanding charter schools, which serve a tiny percentage. If charters want to expand, fine. They should do so without draining resources for most kids.”
Now it is up to the members of the Connecticut General Assembly to stand up and be counted on this vital issue. As a corporate officer in a charter school company, Comer has a significant and clear conflict of interest. Legislature has a duty to reject her appointment to the State Board of Education.
For the full Stamford Advocate editorial go to: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Conflict-on-state-school-board-4364469.php#ixzz2O2DeWJlm
Mar 15
jonpeltoAchievement First/ConnCAN, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Ethics, Family Urban Schools of Excellence (FUSE), Jumoke Academy, Malloy, Stefan Pryor Achievement First, Charter Schools, Conflict of Interest, Ethics, Fuse, Jumoke Academy, Malloy, Stefan Pryor
(Written by Jonathan Pelto and Wendy Lecker)
A Conflict of Interest: A situation in which a public official’s decisions are influenced by the official’s personal interests.
From 2009 to 2011 she served as community outreach director for Achievement First, the large charter school management company co-founded by Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor.
In 2012, after a short stint as spokesperson for Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, she went to work for the Jumoke Academy, the Hartford-based charter school.
In October 2012, the Jumoke Academy’s CEO, Michael Sharpe, named her to the post of Chief Operating Officer for FUSE (Family Urban Schools of Excellence), the new charter school management company that Jumoke created to expand and “replicate” its schools.
According to a media report at the time, as COO of FUSE, her job would be to “core operations functions that support FUSE’s mission, overseeing organizational planning and serving as a member of the senior leadership team.”
Just six weeks ago, on February 21, 2013, she went before the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee to speak in favor of more funding for charter schools and Governor Malloy’s education reforms saying, “I am here representing Jumoke Academy and its charter management organization Fuse, as its Chief Operating Officer…”
And then, a few days after that Governor Malloy nominated her to the Connecticut State Board of Education.
In addition to serving as COO of a charter school management company, she would be voting on whether to expand existing charter schools, authorize new charter schools and move more taxpayer funds from public district schools to charter schools.
Yesterday, the legislature’s Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee held a public hearing on her nomination and then immediately voted in favor of her nomination.
Next step for Andrea Comer – the Connecticut House of Representatives – for a final confirmation vote.
Certainly her conflict of interest is obvious.
Under Connecticut law, “A ‘substantial’ conflict of interest exists if a public official or state employee has reason to believe or expect that he or she, his or her spouse, a dependent child, or a business with which he or she is associated will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss by virtue of his or her official activity…”
And the law goes on to say that a ‘Business with which…associated’ is defined to include any entity through which business for profit or not for profit is conducted in which the public official or state employee, or a member of his or her immediate family, is a director, officer…”
The language is simple and direct.
The conflict is obvious!
Jumoke Academy’s charter, the document that allows the school to exist, must be reviewed and reauthorized by the State Board of Education on regular basis. The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.
Jumoke Academy’s request to expand is voted on by the State Board of Education. The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.
The Commissioner’s recommendations concerning The Jumoke Academy at Milner (part of the Commissioner’s Network of “turnaround schools”) is voted on by the State Board of Education. The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.
Proposals to expand the number of Jumoke/Fuse schools in Connecticut are voted on by the State Board of Education. The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.
Regulations and funding for charter schools is voted on by the State Board of Education. The COO of Fuse/Jumoke shouldn’t be on that Board.
Putting the COO of Fuse/Jumoke on the State Board of Education is inappropriate and wrong.
But wait just a second; on Wednesday she was given a letter from the Office of State Ethics saying that she doesn’t have a “conflict of interest.”
How is that possible?
Because it turns out that according to the Office of State Ethics, the Ethics Code defines the term “Business with which…associated” as “an entity of which you are one of the following: director, officer (i.e., president, executive or senior vice president or treasurer), owner, limited or general partner…”
Despite the fact that she has come before the legislature to call for more funding for charter schools, in general, and Jumoke Academy in particular;
Despite the fact that her job is to expand the number of Jumoke Charter School;
Despite she clearly has a real and perceived conflict of interest;
According to the Ethics Commission’s regulations, as COO, instead of “president, executive or senior vice president or treasurer” she isn’t prohibited from serving on the State Board of Education.
What an amazing travesty of justice.
If something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quakes like a duck…
And perhaps most shocking of all is why Governor Malloy thinks this appointment is okay. Even if it doesn’t violate the absolute “letter of the law,” it so flagrantly violates the spirit of Connecticut law that it is an insult to everyone who believes in open, honest and transparent government.
Jun 21
jonpeltoBridgeport, Education Reform, Ethics, Paul Vallas Bridgeport, Conflict of Interest, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas
Earlier this week, Bridgeport’s illegally appointed Board of Education held a meeting of its Ad Hoc Budget Committee to hear from part-time superintendent of schools, Paul Vallas, about his plans to over-ride local support and pull Bridgeport’s successful alternative high school program out of the University School, a non-profit entity that has been part of the Bridgeport community for decades.
Although the meeting agenda was explicit, with only two items to be discussed, parents, University School supporters and other community members had to sit through a meeting in which the Budget Committee members and staff held a wide-ranging discussion on a variety of issues.
When an audience member, Carmen Lopez, a retired Connecticut judge, raised the point that Connecticut law requires that the members of a public board or committee limit their discussions to what is on the agenda, the Committee’s Chairman, Reverend Kenneth Moales Jr., became verbally abusive yelling that he “will talk about anything he wants to talk about” and that “no-one is going to tell him what he can talk about at his meeting.”
When informed that failure to follow the agenda would be a violation of Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act, Moalas was reported to have said “I don’t care.”
Considering that Rev. Moales served as Mayor Bill Finch’s campaign treasurer in last year’s mayoral campaign, one would expect that he would understand the law and appreciate the importance of respecting Mayor Finch’s constituents, but apparently that isn’t the case.
Following his unwarranted attack and diatribe, the Mayor or someone on the Mayor’s staff would do well to provide Rev. Moales with a copy of the law or they could simply print off the following:
Sec. 1-225. (Formerly Sec. 1-21). Meetings of government agencies to be public. Recording of votes. Schedule and agenda of meetings…
“(c) The agenda of the regular meetings of every public agency…shall be available to the public and shall be filed, not less than twenty-four hours before the meetings to which they refer…Upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of a public agency present and voting, any subsequent business not included in such filed agendas may be considered and acted upon at such meetings.” [This means that the members can only discuss the items on the agenda unless, by a two-thirds vote the members move to open the agenda and add additional items. The reason this law exists is that the public has a fundamental right to know, at least 24 hours in advance, what their public servants will be discussing.]
In addition, Bridgeport’s illegal Board of Education should specifically note that;
“(d) Notice of each special meeting of every public agency…shall be posted not less than twenty-four hours before the meeting to which such notice refers… The notice shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted. No other business shall be considered at such meetings by such public agency. “[This means that if the meeting in question is a “special meeting” then the agenda cannot be modified in any way.]
As a member of the appointed Board of Education and a Democratic candidate for Bridgeport’s reconstituted Board of Education, Moales’ public behavior sends a clear message about his approach to ensuring public input on education issues.
However, what may be an even bigger issue for Rev. Moales, is whether he faces a potential conflict of interest when it comes to even serving on the appointed or elected Board of Education.
Kingdom’s Little Ones in Christ, Inc., a company affiliated with Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love, Inc. received approximately $600,000 in public funds for day care and after school services that it has provided to the City of Bridgeport over the past year.
Most, if not all, of these funds were paid through a contact between Kingdom’s Little Ones in Christ Inc. and the Bridgeport Board of Education. Since 2006, Kingdom’s Little Ones in Christ, Inc. has received over $2.2 million in public funds.
While the corporate records have not been properly maintained or updated, according to the documents filed with the Secretary of the State and the IRS Form 990s that are filed with the Federal government, Peggy Ann Moales, Kenneth Moales’ mother, serves as the President of Kingdom’s Little Ones in Christ, Inc. and the President of Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love, Inc.
Considering the corporation’s records have not been updated since about 2004, it is unclear what, if any, corporate position Reverend Kenneth Moales presently holds, but traditionally a financial conflict of interest occurs when an official or an immediate family member of that official is associated with a business that would benefit directly from that official’s actions.
Since the Board of Education contracts directly with Kingdom’s Little Ones in Christ Inc., Rev. Maoles may have just such a conflict, in which he should not even be serving on Bridgeport’s appointed Board of Education, let alone be running for a seat on the upcoming elected Board.
There is absolutely no excuse for public officials to flaunt the law, regardless of whether it is the Freedom of Information law or the conflict of interest laws.
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