Thursday, July 24, 2008

Governor contradicted on $1 million 'mistake'

From the Tribune:
The confusing controversy over Gov. Rod Blagojevich's decision to give $1 million in state assistance following the Pilgrim Baptist Church fire has a new twist—the founder of the private Chicago school that got the money is contradicting the governor's statement about what happened.

Blagojevich has maintained that he wanted the money to help the historic church but bureaucratic mistakes sent it to the school.

In her first interview since the controversy over the money erupted this spring, Elmira Mayes, the founder of the family-run Loop Lab School, said Blagojevich personally promised her the money.

Mayes said the governor visited the fire site and talked with her as she was sifting through debris from her burned-out school, which had rented space from the church. She did not recall the governor's exact words but "he told me he would help build the school and give $1 million."

Mayes' account raises fresh questions about the Blagojevich administration's efforts to clean up their boss' campaign promise gone awry. Blagojevich has since pledged a second million dollars to the church and ordered a review of whether the state should recover the money given to the school.
Not a fan of the governor, but I'm going to be fair to him for once. They lady who runs the school that got the money instead of Pilgrim Baptist Church isn't any more credible to me. From what I understand even when the school got a million dollars it didn't seem to manage the money very well. Still this story is very much a mess and perhaps it's a good thing that Rob Sherman is making an attempt to stop any more exchanges of money. Personally I'm a big fan of strict oversight over money not necessarily stopping public funds to be used to rebuild an historic building.

Via Newsalert!

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