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CAT Tracks for February 18, 2012
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER |
Actually more than one, half a dozen even...
...and that's not counting those affairs that have been purged from our minds.
On this no-news Saturday...
...a follow-up to my Belated Valentine's Day Present post from yesterday.
Crossed my mind yesterday...
Yes, I do stop and think occasionally about my obsessions. Then, self-righteousness confirmed and halo purrfectly aligned, I nod knowingly and move on!
So...
Crossed my mind yesterday that it might occur to some readers that I'm beating up on Cairo School District Number One. (Puuuuleeze! They have a herd of lawyers to defend them as you will see below. CSD #1 doesn't need your sympathy! And...if you hang in there and review the documents below, I think any such sympathy might go POOF! After all, these are YOUR property tax dollars at work!!!)
You might think...
"Look, Ron...you've made your point, Cairo School District spent over $200,000 during a 6+ year battle with one employee and continues to pour good money after bad. Move on!"
Fine, I shall move on...
...to the six CSD #1 "Annual Statement of Affairs" that I have obtained thus far in compliance with my second FOIA request.
Immediately below is the page from each ASA that shows the money spent by CSD #1 on Robbins et al:
CAT Tracks Editor's Note:
Each page is identified by "Fiscal Year" which covers a period from July 1st of one year to June 30th of the following year.
So...
The first page reproduced below is labeled "FY03"...covering July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003.
As mentioned in my previous post, the gap between FY03 and the later ones is due to scheduled "purging" of District documents (permission to do so requested from and approved by ISBE.)
So...
...finally!
Take a look at how much "ROBBINS SCHWARTZ NICHOLAS" received from Cairo School District Number One for six available fiscal years:
FY07
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
Rather than "drips", I'm sure you would agree that the amounts reported on DISTRICT DOCUMENTS qualify as "DROPS":
This information was printed in The Cairo Citizen as required by law, but who really reads these things. PLUS: Robbins et al is "buried" in a long list of vendors.
Maybe it's just me and my obsessive nature, but I think when you extract and total, it's fairly eye-opening.
If you still didn't do the math on the ASA's above...
...the TOTAL paid by CSD #1 to Robbins et al for six years of legal services was $523,166.81.
Some final (for now) observations:
- FY09...when Robbins et al took a significant hit, dropping from it's usual $100,000+. I don't have any "insider" knowledge as to "Why?", but this is the year that the District decided to enlist another law firm to do it contract negotiations (and possibly other tasks.) That law firm is Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Mohan & Jackstadt, P.C. During this "off year" for Robbins et al, the District paid Tueth et al $64,750.54 for TOTAL LEGAL FEES in FY09 of $77,970.69. Yes, compared to the three previous $100,000+ years, THAT may seem a bargain. BUT...for a small "financially-strapped" school district in Southern Illinois, well it's "Biggie Sized".
- FY10 - Look how nicely Robbins et al "bounced back", scoring their biggest year ever (of those years available for review.) That was the year the District paid Robbers All to take James Gibson to court!
- FY11 - Oops, another sub-$100,000 year for Robbins et al...a paltry $25,278.15. Well, I've always been a student of history - particularly of the proclivity of CSD #1 to repeat its mistakes...with great gusto and glee! This is especially true when the District is led by lawyers with a firm grasp of the golden ring in the District's nose. Is it REALLY a coincidence that Robbins et al is positioning the District to go back into court against James Gibson? I think not...
Over $200,000 to fight James Gibson since October 2005.
Over $500,000 spent on Robbins et al during six available years.
Another $116,540,45 spent on Tueth et al in three years to supplement the Robbers.
You know...
...it's like that old saying.
I forget the amounts they used...think it might have been millions, maybe even billions because they were talking about the national economy.
Whatever...
...our local version fits the analogy:
"A hundred thousand dollars here, a hundred thousand dollars there...pretty soon it adds up to real money."
Real money...
...that could have been spent on education rather than frivolously frittered away in fighting lost causes.
