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March 28, 2024

Where’s Bottom at College of DuPage?

By John Kraft & Kirk Allen

On April 2, 2015

  For The Good of Illinois logo

ROOTING OUT PATRONAGE CONTRACTING AND CORRUPT PRACTICES AT COLLEGE OF DUPAGE (COD)

 

Subpoena’s Issued

‘Cooking the Books’ on Enrollment
Criminal Investigations of COD Contractor

Breuder’s Private Club Dues & Fees Paid by COD

$190,000 spent Eating and Drinking by COD Leaders

Federal, State & Local Investigations Into COD Practices

Property Taxes Not Paid by Private Entities on COD Campus

Radio Station Engineer Arrested for Alleged Fraud up to $200,000

$782,612 Lump Sum Voluntary Retirement Severance to Pres. Breuder

Just in the last ten-days, the Chicago Tribune has exposed: 

  • College of DuPage Enrollment Not What it Seems, click here
  • College of DuPage Spending Under Investigation, click here
  • Subpoena’s Target College President’s Spending, click here
  • College of DuPage gives Foundation Member $630,000 in no-bid contracts, click here

Recently, the Daily Herald investigations exposed:

  • COD Board’s Meals Dwarf Other Colleges, click here
  • Businesses at COD Targeted for Back Property Taxes, click here
There will be more to come in the forthcoming days and weeks. 

Where are DuPage County Republican leaders?  Failing the reform test according to Chris Robling at Illinois Review, click here. Locally, Rep. Jeanie Ives and Peter Breen have demonstrated a new generation of leadership.

A brief recap of our organizations robust COD oversight work is copied below…

For the Good of Illinois

ADAM ANDRZEJEWSKI 
Founder & Chairman, For The Good of IllinoisPS. WE NEED YOUR HELP! PLEASE HELP OUR TEAMS WITH A $25, $50, $100, $250 or $500 DONATION. THANK YOU.

 

BRIEF TIMELINE:
OUR COLLEGE OF DUPAGE OVERSIGHT WORK
In May of last year, our team, allies, and supporters kicked off our oversight investigation of College of DuPage (COD).  Working hand-in-hand with one good trustee vs. six bad ones, Vice Chairman Kathy Hamilton exerted incredible leadership and courage.  Please read Hamilton’s HuffPo profile here.
“Stay Tuned… soon you’ll find out why
College of DuPage is a Statewide Story.”
Kicking off our oversight investigation at COD
Adam Andrzejewski | May 23, 2014

 

Hamilton didn’t get much help from the DuPage County Republican establishment. Please read the recent piece by Chris Robling at Illinois Review, click here.
We found natural allies in the Illinois Tea Party and the COD teachers union. The Edgar County Watchdogs proved they are a nationally leading watchdog group.  The teachers union issued the first “no-confidence” vote on President Robert Breuder in college history.Read Edgar County Watchdogs Profile in Chicago Tribune, click here
Visit the Watchdog website, click here 

As a contributor at Forbes and Huffington Post, our findings – during the fall and summer, 2014 – made national news. The Washington Times conferred a Golden Hammer on COD last September – for the most egregious example of waste, fraud, corruption and abuse in the nation.
Forbes:
The Real Financial Crisis in College, click here
$26 Million Selfie, click here

This College President Hid $95 Million in Spending, click here

Huffington Post:
The Fat Cats at College of DuPage, click here
Reboot Illinois:
Watchdog Group in Clash over FOIA Requests, click here
Golden Hammer Award by Washington Times Editors, click here
By December, we helped:
  • Freeze Property Taxes
  • Freeze Student Tuition
  • Open $100 Million in Hidden “Imprest” Spending since 2009
  • Stop a corrupted $20 Million State Construction Grant to COD 
Soon, we were joined by the editorial boards of every major Northern Illinois newspaper and their news divisions including Jodi Cohen and Stacy St. Clair (Chicago Tribune) and Robert Sanchez and Jake Griffin (Daily Herald). Independently, they have made COD corruption a saturation story.
The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board called for the resignation of the six anti-reform trustees for only the second time in 140 years. The reporting of Jodi Cohen and Stacy St. Clair should win industry awards.
Chicago Tribune Editorial Board:
COD Trustees, It’s Time To Go, click here
It’s Time To Clean House at College of DuPage, click here
On a bi-partisan basis, lawmakers in Springfield have launched hearings and submitted reform legislation. Locally, Rep. Jeanie Ives staunchly backed reform efforts – early – and called for hard auditing of the college. Rep. Peter Breen is further demonstrating a new generation of leadership in DuPage County.
When COD violated the Open Meetings Act conferring a $782,612 lump sum for “voluntary” retirement of President Robert Breuder, we filed a lawsuit and won to force COD into a “redo” vote. 500 citizens attended that COD Board meeting. Our stalwart legal counsel was Rathje Woodward Law Firm in Wheaton, IL.

We continue to help the news both major newspapers break the most impactful front page news stories
.
Many, many good people across the state pitched in to bring transparency to the second largest college in Illinois.  It’s a level of transparency on a local unit of government that hasn’t seen in decades – if ever.

FOR THE GOOD OF ILLINOIS

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2 Comments
  • Gerard Schilling
    Posted at 13:19h, 02 April

    The cesspool has no bottom.

  • Bogey Man
    Posted at 18:23h, 02 April

    Sink your junk raft

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