McHenry County Blog

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

TWO FORMER CANOPY FINANCIAL CO-FOUNDERS SENTENCED TO 15 AND 13 YEARS IN PRISON FOR $75 MILLION INVESTMENT FRAUD AND RAIDING $18 MILLION FROM CUSTODIAL HEATH CARE EXPENSE ACCOUNTS OF 1,600 CUSTOMERS

CHICAGO — Two co-founders of Canopy Financial, Inc., a bankrupt health care transaction software company based here, have been sentenced to 15 and 13 years in prison for defrauding investors and clients of more than $93 million.

Anthony Banas, Canopy’s chief technology officer, was sentenced today to 160 months in prison, while Jeremy Blackburn, Canopy’s former president and chief operating officer, was sentenced on Jan. 24 to 180 months in prison.

Both men pleaded guilty in late 2010 to one count of wire fraud, admitting they engaged in a fraud scheme that cheated investors of approximately $75 million and also misappropriated more than $18 million from customer accounts intended for health care savings and expenses.

The sentences, imposed by U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo in Federal Court, were announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General in Chicago. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Chicago Regional Office assisted in the investigation.

In imposing sentence on both defendants, Judge Castillo noted that this case was the most aggravated financial fraud he had seen in his 18 years on the federal bench.

The judge ordered both men to pay mandatory restitution and forfeiture totaling $93,125,918.

Approximately $50 million has been recovered so far through Canopy’s bankruptcy proceedings, and the government anticipates that the bankruptcy trustee will pay the claims of the health savings account customers.

Banas, 34, of Homer Glen, was ordered to begin serving his sentence on April 18. Blackburn, 38, of Bolingbrook, was ordered to report to prison on March 20.

According to court documents, Blackburn and Banas used false information about Canopy’s financial condition, including a bogus auditor’s report and falsified bank statements, to fraudulently obtain approximately $75 million from several private equity investors in 2009.

Approximately $39 million of that money was used to redeem shares of other Canopy investors, including approximately $1.6 million that went to Blackburn and $975,000 that went to Banas, while another $29 million obtained from investors was deposited into Canopy operating accounts.

Blackburn and Banas also misappropriated Canopy operating funds for their own benefit.

Blackburn alone took approximately $6 million in unauthorized withdrawals and transfers from Canopy bank accounts during 2009.

Blackburn typically directed a Canopy employee, or occasionally Banas, to transfer Canopy funds to his bank accounts or to pay for his personal expenses, including credit card balances, luxury car purchases, and funding his account with a private jet company.

Among Blackburn’s luxury car purchases with Canopy funds were the following:

• two 2010 Range Rover SUVs,
• a 2009 Bentley,
• a 2008 Lamborghini,
• a 2010 Lamborghini,
• a 2009 Rolls Royce Phantom,
• a 2009 Aston Martin DBS,
• a 2009 Bentley Continental, and
• a 2009 Ferrari 430.

Blackburn also paid for personal home renovations, bought sports tickets and purchased jewelry and watches using misappropriated Canopy funds.

Banas used misappropriated Canopy money to invest $300,000 in a nightclub.

Banas also spent $400,000 between 2007 and 2009 on other personal expenses.

Blackburn admitted that he created phony bank statements during 2009 to conceal the transfer of more than $18 million from special health care accounts in which Canopy held funds as custodian for the benefit of more than 1,600 clients and customers to make payments to medical providers. The funds were transferred to Canopy’s own operating accounts, as well as to benefit Blackburn and Banas personally.
In 2004, Blackburn, Banas and a third individual co-founded Canopy, which reportedly was one of the country’s fastest-growing privately-held companies before it entered bankruptcy proceedings in November 2009. Canopy, which had offices in Chicago, Plainsboro, N.J., and San Francisco, developed and marketed software programs for banks and health care payers to administer and process payments involving health-related savings and spending accounts. Canopy’s products related to expense tracking, online bill payment and claims processing for healthcare transactions.

Beginning in March 2009, in connection with the offer and sale of Series D preferred stock by Canopy, Blackburn and Banas made materially false representations to prospective investors about Canopy’s financial condition, including its
revenues,
profitability and
total number of client accounts, and
falsely represented to prospective investors that its financial statements had been audited by KPMG, the international network of audit, tax and consulting firms.

In addition to the phony audit report, Blackburn and Banas created falsified bank statements for the months of January through June 2009, purporting to show a Canopy account at Northern Trust Bank with monthly balances ranging between $5.7 million and $8.9 million. Blackburn admitted that these misrepresentations caused certain investors, including entities affiliated with Spectrum Equity Investors, to invest a total of nearly $75 million in shares of Canopy preferred stock in July and August 2009.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Zimdahl and Manish Shah.

The prosecution falls under the umbrella of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit: www.StopFraud.gov.

So you tell your employer to put some of your money in a health care expense (or salary reduction) account so you can pay medical bills with tax free money.

You better hope that your employer didn’t hire an outfit called Canopy Financial because the canopy has collapsed.

Here’s the U.S. Attorney’s press release on guilty pleas from two of its officers:

FORMER CANOPY FINANCIAL CO-FOUNDER PLEADS GUILTY TO $75 MILLION INVESTMENT FRAUD AND $18 MILLION MISAPPROPRIATION FROM CUSTODIAL HEATH CARE EXPENSE ACCOUNTS OF 1,600 CUSTOMERS

CHICAGO — A co-founder of Canopy Financial, Inc., a bankrupt health care transaction software company based here, pleaded guilty today to defrauding investors and clients of more than $93 million.

The defendant, Jeremy Blackburn, Canopy’s former president and chief operating officer, admitted his role in a fraud scheme that cheated investors of approximately $75 million, while at the same time misappropriating more than $18 million from customer accounts intended for health care savings and expenses.

Blackburn pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in U.S. District Court, announced

• Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois;
• Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
• James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General in Chicago.

Blackburn, 37, of Bolingbrook, remains free on a $1 million bond pending sentencing, which was scheduled for March 8, 2011, by U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo.

His plea agreement contemplates a federal sentencing guideline range of 188-235 months in prison, and he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court also must order restitution and Blackburn agreed to a forfeiture judgment in the amount of $93,125,918.

A second defendant, Anthony Banas, 33, of Homer Glen, Canopy’s chief technology officer, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in September and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30, 2011.

According to Blackburn’s plea agreement, both he and Banas used false information about Canopy’s financial condition, including a bogus auditor’s report and falsified bank statements, to fraudulently obtain approximately $75 million from several private equity investors in 2009.

Approximately $39 million of that money was used to redeem shares of other Canopy investors, including approximately $1.6 million that went to Blackburn and $975,000 that went to Banas, while another $29 million obtained from investors was deposited into Canopy operating accounts.

Blackburn and Banas also misappropriated Canopy operating funds for their own benefit.

Blackburn alone took approximately $6 million in unauthorized withdrawals and transfers from Canopy bank accounts during 2009. Blackburn generally directed a Canopy employee, or occasionally Banas, to make the funds transfers to his bank accounts, or to pay for his personal expenses, such as

• credit card balances,
• luxury car purchases, and
• funding his account with a private jet company.

Among Blackburn’s luxury car purchases with Canopy funds were the following:

• two 2010 Range Rover SUVs,
• a 2009 Bentley,
• a 2008 Lamborghini,
• a 2010 Lamborghini,
• a 2009 Rolls Royce Phantom,
• a 2009 Aston Martin DBS,
• a 2009 Bentley Continental, and
• a 2009 Ferrari 430.

Blackburn also

• paid for personal home renovations,
• bought sports tickets and
• purchased jewelry and watches

using misappropriated Canopy funds.

Blackburn admitted that he created phony bank statements during 2009 to conceal the transfer of more than $18 million from special health care accounts in which Canopy held funds as custodian for the benefit of more than 1,600 clients and customers to make payments to medical providers.

The funds were transferred to Canopy’s own operating accounts, as well as to benefit Blackburn and Banas personally.

In 2004, Blackburn, Banas and a third individual co-founded Canopy, which reportedly was one of the country’s fastest-growing privately-held companies before it entered bankruptcy proceedings in November 2009.

At that time, a special committee of outside directors reported information to federal law enforcement officials and continues to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, officials said.

A civil enforcement action filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Canopy remains pending and law enforcement officials noted the ongoing cooperation of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office.

Canopy, which had offices in Chicago, Plainsboro, N.J., and San Francisco, developed and marketed software programs for banks and health care payers to administer and process payments involving health-related savings and spending accounts. Canopy’s products related to expense tracking, online bill payment and claims processing for healthcare transactions.

According to Blackburn’s plea agreement, in late 2008 and early 2009, Canopy’s CEO and Blackburn discussed a proposal sell Canopy.

The Canopy CEO encouraged Blackburn to present the company’s board of directors with a bleak forecast of its performance, and they discussed the possibility of soliciting investors to provide capital for Canopy.

The Canopy CEO also encouraged Blackburn to prepare optimistic financial statements to be provided, with the assistance of an investment banker, to prospective investors to induce investment in Canopy.

Blackburn then prepared false monthly operating reports inflating Canopy’s revenue and distributed them to others knowing they would be used to solicit investors. Beginning in March 2009, in connection with the offer and sale of Series D preferred stock by Canopy, Blackburn and Banas made materially false representations to prospective investors about canopy’s financial condition, including its revenues, profitability and total number of client accounts, and falsely represented to prospective investors that its financial statements had been audited by KPMG, the international network of audit, tax and consulting firms.

In addition to the phony audit report, Blackburn and Banas created falsified bank statements for the months of January through June 2009, purporting to show a Canopy account at Northern Trust Bank with monthly balances ranging between $5.7 million and $8.9 million. Blackburn admitted that these misrepresentations caused certain investors, including entities affiliated with Spectrum Equity Investors, to invest a total of nearly $75 million in shares of Canopy preferred stock in July and August 2009.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Zimdahl and Manish Shah.

The prosecution falls under the umbrella of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information on the task force, visit: www.StopFraud.gov.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s press release is below and you can read Ike Carothers official biography here:

CHICAGO – Chicago Ald. Isaac S. Carothers (29th Ward) and a real estate developer who sought to transform a 50-acre former rail yard and industrial site on the city’s west side into a residential and commercial neighborhood, were indicted today on federal fraud and bribery charges, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

The developer, Calvin Boender, allegedly paid for approximately $40,000 in home improvements to Carothers’ residence and provided him with meals and tickets to professional sporting events, which Carothers allegedly illegally accepted, in exchange for Carothers’ official acts supporting successful zoning changes for Galewood Yards, which was the largest undeveloped tract of land within the city limits.

Approximately $6 million more was made from the sale of 25 acres of the land than would have been realized without the zoning changes, and Boender allegedly personally profited half of that amount, or approximately $3 million, according to an 11-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury today.

Carothers, 54, also known as “Ike,” who was first elected alderman of the city’s 29th Ward on the far west side in 1999, and Boender, 54, both of Chicago, will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court.

Carothers, chairman of the City Council Police and Fire Committee and a member of the Committees on Committees, Rules and Ethics; Finance; and Zoning, among others, was charged with four counts of wire or mail fraud and one count each of accepting a bribe and filing a false federal income tax return. Boender was charged with four counts of wire or mail fraud, two counts of obstruction of justice, two misdemeanor counts of violating federal campaign finance laws, and one count of paying a bribe.

The indictment also seeks forfeiture of at least $40,000 from Carothers, representing the financial benefits he received in home improvements, and at least $3 million from Boender, representing proceeds he received from the sale and development of Galewood Yards based on the re-zoning, as well as his financial interests in RSD Galewood and Galewood Yards.

Mr. Fitzgerald announced the charges with Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Alvin Patton, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.

“Using public office to obtain personal financial benefits violates the public trust and we will continue to vigilantly investigate and prosecute both corrupt public officials and businessmen who seek to profit by corrupting them,”

Mr. Fitzgerald said.

According to the indictment, Boender was at least a part owner of several companies, including Grand Central Center for Business, LLC, of Elmhurst, which purchased the Galewood Yards site in 2000.

The 50-acre parcel, located in both the 29th and 37th Wards, was zoned as a restricted manufacturing and commercial manufacturing district, and Boender sought to develop it for residential and commercial use.

Between 2004 and at least February 2007, Boender and Carothers allegedly participated in a scheme to defraud the City of Chicago and its residents of Carothers’ honest services by accepting financial benefits in connection with official acts to advance Boender’s financial interests in the development of Galewood Yards.

The commercial and residential development today consists of a 14-screen movie theater, a Laborer’s Union Training Center and 187 single-family and multifamily residences in a neighborhood known as Galewood Crossings.

Between June and September 2004, Boender allegedly paid for approximately $40,000 in home improvements for Carothers, including exterior and interior painting, and installing new windows, new exterior doors, and a central air conditioning system.

Boender directed unnamed Individual A, a general contractor who worked for Boender, to provide the home improvements without requiring Carothers to pay for them.

In addition, Boender paid for meals for Carothers and provided him with free tickets to several professional sporting events, including sky box tickets to at least one Chicago White Sox playoff game in 2005, the indictment alleges.

On Sept. 1, 2004, Boender caused Grand Central Center to file a zoning amendment application that would allow Galewood Yards to be developed entirely for residential and commercial use. In an attached disclosure statement, Boender allegedly falsely stated that he had not bribed or attempted to bribe a city official in the past five years, when he knew that he had bribed Carothers with the home improvements in exchange for Carothers’ support of zoning changes for Galewood Yards.

The indictment alleges that throughout 2004 and 2005, Carothers met with city officials, including employees of the Department of Planning and Development and other high-ranking officials, in an attempt to stop them from designating Galewood Yards as part of a Planned Manufacturing District (PMD), which would have prohibited Boender from developing the property for residential, commercial and mixed uses.

As part of the fraud scheme, Boender met with a high-ranking city official in an attempt to have that official support a residential and commercial re-zoning of Galewood Yards, representing to that high-ranking official that Carothers supported Boender’s proposal, the indictment alleges.

After the Planning and Development Department continued to support making Galewood Yards part of a PMD, Boender and Carothers negotiated a compromise in which the department supported a plan to re-zone Galewood Yards to allow approximately 15 acres to be developed for residential use and approximately 10 acres for commercial use. The indictment alleges that this plan allowed Boender to enter into separate contracts:

• with Company A to sell the 15-acre tract zoned for residential use to RSD Galewood, a new real estate development entity in which Company A and Boender were part owners. With the contract contingent upon Boender’s ability to secure residential zoning for the portion of Galewood Yards, Company A paid Grand Central Center a price that enabled Boender’s business to make a profit of approximately $4 million more than it would have received if the land remained zoned as a manufacturing district; and
• with Company B to sell the 10-acre parcel zoned for commercial use for a movie theater complex at a price that enabled Grand Central Center to make a profit of approximately $2 million more than it would have received if the land remained zoned as a manufacturing district.

On Feb. 16, 2006, Carothers signed an official letter to the Planning and Development Department stating that he had reviewed and had no objection to Boender’s planned development for Galewood Yards. Carothers also allegedly introduced, supported and voted in favor of City Council ordinances that amended zoning of Galewood Yards to allow for portions to be developed for manufacturing, commercial and residential uses. The indictment alleges that he took the following official actions to obtain zoning changes while failing to disclose publicly his financial relationships with Boender and failing to recuse himself from Galewood Yards matters that were pending before the City Council:

• on March 16, 2006, Carothers attended a Chicago Plan Commission hearing and spoke in favor of re-zoning Galewood Yards for manufacturing, commercial, and residential use;
• on March 23, 2006, Carothers attended a City Council Zoning Committee hearing and spoke in favor of re-zoning Galewood Yards for manufacturing, commercial, and residential use;
• on March 29, 2006, Carothers voted in favor of amending the Chicago Zoning Ordinance to allow Galewood Yards to be developed for manufacturing, commercial, and residential use;
• on July 5, 2006, Carothers applied for a technical amendment to the Chicago Zoning Ordinance that changed the boundaries of the Galewood Yard development. This amendment was introduced to the City Council on July 26, 2006; revised on Aug. 17, 2006; and enacted by the City Council on Sept. 13, 2006; and
• on Feb. 7, 2007, Carothers voted in favor of an ordinance authorizing and directing the approval of a proposed Galewood Residential Subdivision.

Carothers allegedly filed a false Statement of Economic Interest with Cook County and a false Statement of Financial Interest with the city, which failed to disclose that he received gifts in excess of $500 and income in excess of $1,200 from Boender.

To disguise and conceal the extent of Grand Central Center’s campaign contributions to Carothers, Boender allegedly directed an employee to make a $1,500 donation to Carothers’ New 29th Ward Democratic Organization and reimbursed the employee for the contribution.

The indictment further alleges that when Carothers asked Boender for his financial support of Candidate A, a relative of Carothers’ who was running for Congress in 2004, Boender curried favor with Carothers by making campaign contributions in excess of the $2,000 maximum allowed under federal election law.

To disguise and conceal contributions to Candidate A, Boender directed at least two individuals to make $2,000 straw donations and reimbursed them for their contributions.

The two campaign finance counts were initially brought against Boender in late February but that indictment remained sealed while the investigation was continuing until today when the superseding indictment was returned.

One obstruction of justice count against Boender alleges that in August 2007, knowing that a federal investigation of Boender’s financial relationship with Carothers was being conducted, Boender advised Individual A to provide a false version of events in any grand jury testimony about home improvements that Individual A had performed on Carothers’ home.

Boender specifically told Individual A that Individual A should falsely testify that an invoice was issued to Carothers seeking payment for the home improvements, when Boender knew that Individual A did not send an invoice to Carothers.

A second obstruction count alleges that in February 2008, Boender created a document that purported to be an invoice to Carothers, dated Sept. 8, 2004, knowing that no such invoice existed from that time.

The allegedly false invoice purported to bill Carothers for the home improvement work, and Boender allegedly attempted to cause the false invoice to be produced to the grand jury to corruptly influence the investigation.

The tax count against Carothers alleges that he filed a false individual federal income tax return for 2004, stating that he had total income of $144,281, and taxable income of $86,836, while knowing that those figures failed to include the additional gross income he received in the form of home improvements that were paid for by Boender.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon Fox and Manish Shah.

If convicted, Carothers and Boender each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the four counts of mail or wire fraud, and 10 years in prison on one count of bribery against each of them. Boender faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on each of two counts of obstruction of justice, and Carothers faces a maximum of 3 years in prison for filing a false tax return. Also, all of those counts each carry a maximum fine of $250,000 fine. The two misdemeanor campaign finance counts against Boender each carry a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. If convicted of the tax count, Carothers would be assessed mandatory costs of prosecution, as well remain liable for any back taxes, interest and penalties owed. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Those who attended the contentious Prairie Grove District 46 School Board meeting Tuesday were privileged to hear a heartfelt plea from the junior high school’s technology teacher-coordinator, Tom Bieschke.

After three years of teaching at Prairie Grove he had been sacked after three years at the school and could not understand why.

His performance evaluations had not indicated any “remediation,” that is, specific improvements in his performance, was needed.

All of a sudden, he was just let go.

Mr. Bieschke seemed to me of an age when he might have had entered teaching as a second profession.

For me, this capsulated his dedication to his students:

He talked of Club PGN. I think I have figured out that this is the student newspaper.

He said the club went from 2 to 80 students.

“Last year there were 4 newspapers,” he said.

There were over 20 this year, he revealed.

That sounds like a labor of love to me.

Using a quite understated manner, he introduced himself to the board during the public speaking time.

“I’ve been kind of taken back in the news that the administration does not want to rehire me,” he explained.

“I don’t understand why.”

He explained that his “evaluation in December seemed very good. No problems.”

He went on to say that when he had received what I think was a subsequent evaluation, “…there were some things in there I had no idea about.

“Evaluations should be tools of growth,” he continued.

“This past year I took 15 hours of classes.

“Each year I’ve taught here I’ve redesigned the curriculum to keep up with the new technology.”

Then he told about the student participation growth for the student newspaper.

Apparently, Bieschke’s job includes helping other teachers cope with computers.

“In any instance when a teacher needs assistance, I immediate give it,” he explained.

“When it’s abruptly thrown upon me I ask (unfortunately, I did not get the rest of his sentence).

“Please provide me with another year of teaching,” he concluded humbly.

One member of the audience, Pat Greenwald, spoke after the tech teacher.

“I come from a family of teachers. I know exactly what this man has gone through,” she said.

Although I did not catch her exact words of disapproval, they ended with “without giving him a chance.”

“We, as taxpayers also haven’t been given a fair chance,” she continued.

“I now know what the teachers go through.

“Pontius Pilot did that and that’s not cool.”

I thought, “Whoa”, that’s a heavy charge.

“He will find a much better place…unfortunately, it won’t be with our kids.

“We’re fighting for our children for the best.

“He’s begging you for his job.

“That sucks!

“You better look in the mirror.

“You have learned how this man has mastered the attention of (the students).

“Maybe you guys should be seeking another job, not this gentleman.”

No one on the board made any comment.

= = = = =
You can enlarge any picture by clicking on it. Board members shown in the group shot are left to right, Stephen Todd, Dale Burnidge, Karen Bowman and Charlotte Kremer. Bea Greenwald is the woman under the group shot. Head shots show Laura Domoto on the left and Heidi Jessup on the right. None were taken while Bieschke was addressing the board.

Those who attended the contentious Prairie Grove District 46 School Board meeting Tuesday were privileged to hear a heartfelt plea from the junior high school’s technology teacher-coordinator, Tom Bieschke.

After three years of teaching at Prairie Grove he had been sacked after three years at the school and could not understand why.

His performance evaluations had not indicated any “remediation,” that is, specific improvements in his performance, was needed.

All of a sudden, he was just let go.

Mr. Bieschke seemed to me of an age when he might have had entered teaching as a second profession.

For me, this capsulated his dedication to his students:

He talked of Club PGN. I think I have figured out that this is the student newspaper.

He said the club went from 2 to 80 students.

“Last year there were 4 newspapers,” he said.

There were over 20 this year, he revealed.

That sounds like a labor of love to me.

Using a quite understated manner, he introduced himself to the board during the public speaking time.

“I’ve been kind of taken back in the news that the administration does not want to rehire me,” he explained.

“I don’t understand why.”

He explained that his “evaluation in December seemed very good. No problems.”

He went on to say that when he had received what I think was a subsequent evaluation, “…there were some things in there I had no idea about.

“Evaluations should be tools of growth,” he continued.

“This past year I took 15 hours of classes.

“Each year I’ve taught here I’ve redesigned the curriculum to keep up with the new technology.”

Then he told about the student participation growth for the student newspaper.

Apparently, Bieschke’s job includes helping other teachers cope with computers.

“In any instance when a teacher needs assistance, I immediate give it,” he explained.

“When it’s abruptly thrown upon me I ask (unfortunately, I did not get the rest of his sentence).

“Please provide me with another year of teaching,” he concluded humbly.

One member of the audience, Pat Greenwald, spoke after the tech teacher.

“I come from a family of teachers. I know exactly what this man has gone through,” she said.

Although I did not catch her exact words of disapproval, they ended with “without giving him a chance.”

“We, as taxpayers also haven’t been given a fair chance,” she continued.

“I now know what the teachers go through.

“Pontius Pilot did that and that’s not cool.”

I thought, “Whoa”, that’s a heavy charge.

“He will find a much better place…unfortunately, it won’t be with our kids.

“We’re fighting for our children for the best.

“He’s begging you for his job.

“That sucks!

“You better look in the mirror.

“You have learned how this man has mastered the attention of (the students).

“Maybe you guys should be seeking another job, not this gentleman.”

No one on the board made any comment.

= = = = =
You can enlarge any picture by clicking on it. Board members shown in the group shot are left to right, Stephen Todd, Dale Burnidge, Karen Bowman and Charlotte Kremer. Bea Greenwald is the woman under the group shot. Head shots show Laura Domoto on the left and Heidi Jessup on the right. None were taken while Bieschke was addressing the board.

First I get a parking ticket for dropping my son off at school.

Now, a Prairie Grove policeman has threatened to arrest me to trespassing in a public hall waiting for the not-so-quiet, but top secret, hush, hush District 46 school board members to come out of its executive session. I talked a bit about this yesterday.

I have never been threatened with arrest before.

Let me lay out the background.

It is obvious from Northwest Herald reporter Nick Swedberg’s stories (1 and 2) that District 46 has a lot of strange things going on.

So, at the urging of a district resident I have know for a long time, I decided to attend the meeting held on election eve.

I arrived late and, as usual, took photos of the public officials.

Elected folks probably don’t know how many pictures it takes to get a decent one. One candidate emailed me during the campaign asking if I had put up the worst picture I had taken of him.

I told him it was the best I had obtained.

I’ll write other stories about what happened in the meeting, but, when I entered a woman, who turned out to be a McHenry Marlin Swim Team Mom and who serves on the board, was being talked down to by her colleagues.

Her name is Charlotte Kremer.

She reminds me of Huntley School District 158’s Larry Snow when he first got elected.

All alone against a hostile ruling majority.

This is a small district, but the seats for the audience in the school library were filled.

Kremer was trying to get some items taken off the consent agenda.

And, the board members were hassling her.

I wonder what part of the word “consent” they don’t understand.

Then, a board member named Karen Bowman made conciliatory sounds.

Boy, did she fool me. She seemed reasonable while there was an audience.

I’m sure that’s the public persona she wants to project.

The other members of her clique quickly fell into line with Bowman and Kremer got her discussion, but behind closed doors.

When this open part of the meeting was concluded, the audience cleared out and the board members had a little break. Then, the doors were closed and the real meeting began.

Everyone waiting outside figured it was about the really generous three-year extension on Supt. Fasbender’s contract, plus whatever Kremer wanted to discuss.

First I got some name spellings from the PTO vice president and the lady from Oakwood Hills who told the board that she though Fasbender was the board president because she seemed to be running the meeting. Then, I talked with two of the candidates challenging the incumbent school board members–David Etling and Sharon Rogowski.

I met the Northwest Herald reporter, an intern from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

As I do with virtually all executive sessions, I took some pictures of the wall and door. The Venetian blinds were down, but open, as you can see in the top picture.

Next, I noticed that one could see in through the vertical windows of the two doors.

Superintendent Fasbender was nicely centered in one, so I tried to take her photo. She ducked right, then, left to avoid the camera lens. You can see I got her picture. I can’t figure out why she didn’t want her picture taken.

Bowman, by this time, was browbeating Kremer.

She was vigorously gesturing.

Then, she was shouting at the top of her lungs.

“You’re going to hear from me!” she screamed.

It really startled me until I figured that this 12-year school board member had just completely lost control of herself.

At one point, someone got up to close the Venetian blinds. So, I took a picture of that.

And, then, I noticed there was about a foot of unblocked window between the bottom of the blinds and what I think was a fairly wide chair rail.

The Bowman tirade continued.

That’s when I got this picture I published much too early Wednesday morning.

Bowman saw me tying to take her picture and lunged to the Venetian blind, which was behind an easel. She jerked on one end. The blind collapsed, as you can see in the next photograph.

At some point I started laughing.

Lowering a blind didn’t stop her voice from getting through the window.

The more I heard and saw of this totally unacceptable behavior, the funnier it stuck me.

As I mentioned yesterday, my laugh is pretty piercing.

They probably heard my reaction to the outrageous way Bowman was acting toward her fellow board member.

I have never seen a school or village board meeting so out of control, except maybe in the late 1960’s, when Algonquin Township Supervisor George Starr rapped his gavel so hard so many times that I thought he would break it. (A local Richardson Publications Mike Royko, code named Phoenix, wrote a column filled with variations of “Bam, bam, bam.” It was a long column.)

But Bowman’s completely out-of-control rant certainly takes the cake for the last three decades.

Some administrator, whom I figured was the business manager from the report he gave, walked out of the room across the hall into the gym. He didn’t say a word.

After the previous admonitions about paper use, apparently for at least the second year, from board member Manish Shah, I figured they couldn’t find any paper in the library to cover up the vertical door windows and he has been sent to find some and, maybe some Scotch Tape.

Things quieted down inside and some of those left waiting for the doors to be opened were talking for, I don’t know, 5, 10, 15 minutes.

Then from the other direction, down the hall walks the finance guy, followed by a policeman.

“If he doesn’t agree to leave, then, I’ll have to arrest him for trespass,” the Prairie Grove policeman said.

I can’t remember the order of who said what, but the business type, a guy named Tanner, said, “He was heckling.”

Not true. But my laughter must have been less obnoxious than Bowman’s hectoring of Kremer.

He asked me if I was going to leave.

“I haven’t been asked,” I replied.

The Tanner guy then said, “I’m asking you to leave.”

The policeman asked, “Are you going to leave?” as I was trying to take notes.

I said, “Sure.”

Then, I asked the policeman’s name.

He said he’d tell me when we got outside.

I said, “Let’s go” and started down the hall toward the door I had entered.

“You don’t give the orders,” he said sharply.

When we got outside with the business guy, the officer said his name was “Sechho-something-or-other.” He gave me a number: “8210.” I got that.

As I was walking across the parking lot he said, “Don’t come back.”

“Not tonight,” I replied and drove home to type election stories until 4 AM.

And, here is a parting quote from a commenter:

The District 46 School board has lost control. Their own Board Member (Manish Shah) has summed it up best in an interview with the NW Herald reporter Telma Guzman after the public was allowed back into the meeting:

“We act like buffoons in front of the community. We need to work together.”

First I get a parking ticket for dropping my son off at school.

Now, a Prairie Grove policeman has threatened to arrest me to trespassing in a public hall waiting for the not-so-quiet, but top secret, hush, hush District 46 school board members to come out of its executive session. I talked a bit about this yesterday.

I have never been threatened with arrest before.

Let me lay out the background.

It is obvious from Northwest Herald reporter Nick Swedberg’s stories (1 and 2) that District 46 has a lot of strange things going on.

So, at the urging of a district resident I have know for a long time, I decided to attend the meeting held on election eve.

I arrived late and, as usual, took photos of the public officials.

Elected folks probably don’t know how many pictures it takes to get a decent one. One candidate emailed me during the campaign asking if I had put up the worst picture I had taken of him.

I told him it was the best I had obtained.

I’ll write other stories about what happened in the meeting, but, when I entered a woman, who turned out to be a McHenry Marlin Swim Team Mom and who serves on the board, was being talked down to by her colleagues.

Her name is Charlotte Kremer.

She reminds me of Huntley School District 158’s Larry Snow when he first got elected.

All alone against a hostile ruling majority.

This is a small district, but the seats for the audience in the school library were filled.

Kremer was trying to get some items taken off the consent agenda.

And, the board members were hassling her.

I wonder what part of the word “consent” they don’t understand.

Then, a board member named Karen Bowman made conciliatory sounds.

Boy, did she fool me. She seemed reasonable while there was an audience.

I’m sure that’s the public persona she wants to project.

The other members of her clique quickly fell into line with Bowman and Kremer got her discussion, but behind closed doors.

When this open part of the meeting was concluded, the audience cleared out and the board members had a little break. Then, the doors were closed and the real meeting began.

Everyone waiting outside figured it was about the really generous three-year extension on Supt. Fasbender’s contract, plus whatever Kremer wanted to discuss.

First I got some name spellings from the PTO vice president and the lady from Oakwood Hills who told the board that she though Fasbender was the board president because she seemed to be running the meeting. Then, I talked with two of the candidates challenging the incumbent school board members–David Etling and Sharon Rogowski.

I met the Northwest Herald reporter, an intern from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

As I do with virtually all executive sessions, I took some pictures of the wall and door. The Venetian blinds were down, but open, as you can see in the top picture.

Next, I noticed that one could see in through the vertical windows of the two doors.

Superintendent Fasbender was nicely centered in one, so I tried to take her photo. She ducked right, then, left to avoid the camera lens. You can see I got her picture. I can’t figure out why she didn’t want her picture taken.

Bowman, by this time, was browbeating Kremer.

She was vigorously gesturing.

Then, she was shouting at the top of her lungs.

“You’re going to hear from me!” she screamed.

It really startled me until I figured that this 12-year school board member had just completely lost control of herself.

At one point, someone got up to close the Venetian blinds. So, I took a picture of that.

And, then, I noticed there was about a foot of unblocked window between the bottom of the blinds and what I think was a fairly wide chair rail.

The Bowman tirade continued.

That’s when I got this picture I published much too early Wednesday morning.

Bowman saw me tying to take her picture and lunged to the Venetian blind, which was behind an easel. She jerked on one end. The blind collapsed, as you can see in the next photograph.

At some point I started laughing.

Lowering a blind didn’t stop her voice from getting through the window.

The more I heard and saw of this totally unacceptable behavior, the funnier it stuck me.

As I mentioned yesterday, my laugh is pretty piercing.

They probably heard my reaction to the outrageous way Bowman was acting toward her fellow board member.

I have never seen a school or village board meeting so out of control, except maybe in the late 1960’s, when Algonquin Township Supervisor George Starr rapped his gavel so hard so many times that I thought he would break it. (A local Richardson Publications Mike Royko, code named Phoenix, wrote a column filled with variations of “Bam, bam, bam.” It was a long column.)

But Bowman’s completely out-of-control rant certainly takes the cake for the last three decades.

Some administrator, whom I figured was the business manager from the report he gave, walked out of the room across the hall into the gym. He didn’t say a word.

After the previous admonitions about paper use, apparently for at least the second year, from board member Manish Shah, I figured they couldn’t find any paper in the library to cover up the vertical door windows and he has been sent to find some and, maybe some Scotch Tape.

Things quieted down inside and some of those left waiting for the doors to be opened were talking for, I don’t know, 5, 10, 15 minutes.

Then from the other direction, down the hall walks the finance guy, followed by a policeman.

“If he doesn’t agree to leave, then, I’ll have to arrest him for trespass,” the Prairie Grove policeman said.

I can’t remember the order of who said what, but the business type, a guy named Tanner, said, “He was heckling.”

Not true. But my laughter must have been less obnoxious than Bowman’s hectoring of Kremer.

He asked me if I was going to leave.

“I haven’t been asked,” I replied.

The Tanner guy then said, “I’m asking you to leave.”

The policeman asked, “Are you going to leave?” as I was trying to take notes.

I said, “Sure.”

Then, I asked the policeman’s name.

He said he’d tell me when we got outside.

I said, “Let’s go” and started down the hall toward the door I had entered.

“You don’t give the orders,” he said sharply.

When we got outside with the business guy, the officer said his name was “Sechho-something-or-other.” He gave me a number: “8210.” I got that.

As I was walking across the parking lot he said, “Don’t come back.”

“Not tonight,” I replied and drove home to type election stories until 4 AM.

And, here is a parting quote from a commenter:

The District 46 School board has lost control. Their own Board Member (Manish Shah) has summed it up best in an interview with the NW Herald reporter Telma Guzman after the public was allowed back into the meeting:

“We act like buffoons in front of the community. We need to work together.”