ED, Bellwood school board meeting tonight [D88]

Press release:

Will Bellwood fire school superintendent for refusing to “play ball”?

Monday evening the District 88 (Bellwood elementary schools) board of education will consider a motion to terminate Superintendent Dr. Willie Mack. Mack speaks fluent Spanish. Bellwood schools have approximately 40% Latino students.

Critics, like James K. Graham, Sr., see the firing as the board majority consolidating political power. Graham formerly served as director or facilities and was recently fired by the same board.

The board majority is aligned with Cook County Recorder of Deeds and Proviso Democratic Committeeman Eugene Moore, District 209 (Proviso Township High Schools) board president Emanuel Christopher Welch—who is also D88’s attorney—Stone Park village president Beniamino Mazzulla and by extension many of the political power brokers in and around Proviso Township.

“Schools are big business,” said Carl Nyberg, the creator of Proviso Probe, a blog covering Proviso Township. (Nyberg has been sued by Welch for defamation after accusing him of nepotism and “looting” District 209.) “If we allow the schools to be used to enrich politicians, the corrupt politicians will gravitate to the schools, like ants to a picnic. And when the schools are being managed to make politicians and their cronies rich, they aren’t being managed to educate students.”

Graham alleges the District 88 board has neglected Life Safety issues, while prioritizing contracts to those that give kickbacks. “Welch’s law firm [James J. Roche & Associates] bills District 88 over $10,000 per month for attending two school board meetings. A number of politically connected vendors submit bills, I suspect are padded.”

Graham added, “Beyond the dubious billing, the board doesn’t take care of basic Life Safety issues. Bellwood schools have been eligible for state aid to remove asbestos for ten years. Yet the board has delayed applying. And the fire alarms in eight of ten schools need to be fixed. Again this hasn’t happened because of the board. Why not? Is it because there is no vendor that will give a kickback?”

One board member has a conflict-of-interest with attorney and political power broker Welch. Tommie Miller works as the head basketball coach at Proviso West to supplement his income as a teacher in Chicago Public Schools.

“I’ve seen Welch fire a superintendent before,” Nyberg said. In August, Welch fired then D209 Superintendent Dr. Greg Jackson. “He doesn’t even try to justify it. He didn’t even acknowledge questions from the board minority; he just talked over them. The entire meeting, with seven line items, took under eight minutes.”

Jackson was fired at the meeting after he indicated a willingness to cut ties to Anthony Bruno, a contractor who is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney. Bruno is a political supporter of Welch.

Local media outlets have reported Welch will challenge State Representative Karen Yarbrough in the Democratic Primary. Yarbrough won the state rep seat formerly held by Moore in 2000. Yarbrough almost unseated Moore as Democratic Committeeman in 2002. Stroger, a Moore ally, is reputed to be supporting Welch’s campaign against Yarbrough.

On November 2, 2005 the Pioneer Press reported Stone Park, where Mazzulla is mayor, is being sued for using a prostitution sting as a shakedown. Men who did not offer to pay for sex were arrested and had their cars ransomed back, while politically connected tow companies made hundreds of dollars on each car.

Where is the meeting?

When?

See this entry for earlier discussion.