COD- Most recent Waterleaf financial report unverifiable –

DuPage Co. (ECWd) –

Waterleaf: “Financial results are improving—Revenues are 52% higher than prior year.” (Click here, read top of page 22)

The above statement comes from the presentation provided by the College of DuPage Administration.  I wanted to address the claims as regarding the Waterleaf restaurant which has lost over $1.5 Million dollars in the last three years.  Never mind that though, revenues are 52% higher than last year!  Or are they?

How do we know revenues are higher?  How does a citizen validate any of these claims?  Are we supposed to just take them at their word?  Normally yes, however, after this most recent response in our attempt to confirm the claims made, I don’t know that I will ever believe them.

You would think that when a person asks for the records used to create the mystical improvements to a restaurant that has lost over $1.5 million dollars in three years they would be able to provide those records.

Think again!

My request was simple!  We wanted a Copy of all financial details used to establish the financial numbers shared at the February 19th, 2015 Board Meeting pertaining to the Waterleaf Restaurant . This would include all expenditures, revenues, capital costs & depreciation etc. for the three years referenced in the presentation.

Having that information, a person could validate what they claimed during the meeting.  You would think they would jump at the opportunity to have such information shared, which I assured them in my request would happen.

There response on this matter is one that should send every taxpayer to the next meeting and demand detailed answers, which they have a statutory right to ask!

“preliminary information and documents that were used in preparing the financial report regarding the Waterleaf Restaurant presented at the February 19, 2015 Board meeting are exempt from disclosure under FOIA Section 7(1)(f) because they are preliminary drafts, notes, memoranda, opinions and other records which were used to formulate the final report which was presented at the Board meeting”.

So there is no confusion on this matter, the very financial numbers presented to the board as facts are all based on “preliminary drafts, notes, memoranda, opinion and other records“, of which they refuse to provide under a FOIA request!

How can we put any trust in the presentation if the numbers come from unverified, unverifiable drafts, notes, memoranda, opinion, and other records?

I think it’s high time for a forensic audit of this money pit created by Breuder.  Let’s see where the money is really going and what it is being spent on as it is clear they are not making any money even though they brag about revenues being up 52%.