According to the Daily Southtown, Charles Flowers isn't the only one charging family trips on the taxpayers' dime.
Instead of an excursion to Mississippi - which Suburban Cook County Regional Office of Education Supt. Charles Flowers purchased for his family on the regional office's credit card - Deputy Supt. Harry Reynolds seems to prefer the cool breeze and sandy beaches of San Diego.
More than $1,700 in charges appear on Reynolds' regional office of education credit card in June 2008 for himself and his wife, Calumet School District 132 Supt. Elizabeth Reynolds, and two other family members, according to credit card statements obtained by the SouthtownStar through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Reynolds did not return calls for comment this week.
Reynolds' district-issued card also includes charges to Chicago's theater district, one bill of nearly $100 at Bogart's Charhouse in Homewood, and car rental charges based in Jacksonville, Fla., documents show.
But that's small potatoes compared to the thousands of dollars Flowers spent on meal or food purchases since he took office in July 2007.
Sometimes, he's used the public credit card to eat out as many as four times in one week. The Clubhouse - an Oak Brook restaurant that boasts a luxurious country-club feel - appears to be a favorite. On Dec. 21, 2007, Flowers spent $863 on the fine dining, statements show. Just two months earlier, Flowers dropped $200 on Oct. 21 and was back on Oct. 23 to the tune of $85.97. In April 2008, he returned to charge $326.32. In total, he frequented the eatery - where specialties include sweet chili ginger calamari and pecan crusted tilapia - seven times, statements show.
The array of Oak Brook-area restaurants reflect a sophisticated palate. Flowers charged more than $430 at Wildfire in January of this year, $133 at Maggiano's, $286 at Papadeaux Seafood Kitchen and $89 at Bar Louie to his regional office's credit card.
But it wasn't all upscale cuisine. Flowers also seemed to have a craving for Applebee's, KFC, Panda Express, Potbelly, Portillo's, Panera and Priscilla's Ultimate Soulfood.
In addition to feeding his appetite, Flowers also spent $45 at Yehia and Company Hair Designs, statements show. There were also two separate limousine charges, plenty of purchases at the gas pump, a theater district charge, as well as hotel and rental car payments outlined in Flowers' credit card statements.
Flowers began his tenure with a credit card that had a $5,000 credit limit. That was upped to $10,000, and most recently $20,000.
Flowers did not return calls for comment this week about the credit card charges, nor has he responded to reporters' inquiries about a variety of questionable financial dealings revealed in recent weeks.
A preliminary audit of the office states that Flowers maintains he paid the office back from his personal account but the auditors were unable to confirm that.
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4 comments:
Why is Flowers allowed to continue to get away with this? Is it because of his connection to Karen Yarbrough? Let's see some action and toss his sorry carcass into Stateville. And WHO were his guests at these food fests? Bet it wasn't any of his employees! Bet it WAS friends and family. Or, can this guy eat that much by himself?
When will someone in the State Dept. of Education or the Attorney general's office remove this incompetent clown?????
This stupid and ridiculous clown,has embarassed our township and has fully embarassed his family and his friends.
His arguments that he cared about children getting a better education.has proven that he was just a liar willing to do whatever was necessary to get elected!
Karen Yarbrough should be fully disgusted and also embarassed by his antics, since his actions reflect on her and her "poor" judgment of endorsing and pushing his election!
If Flowers had half a brain, he would use his "mickey m ouse" degree and would have gotton a superintendet's postion in a school district making 3 times what he makes,but yet nobody will hire him.
If Flowers had any respect for himself he would quit. But, of course,he won't because what would he eat if he could'nt use the taxpayers money to go to the "The Clubhouse"?
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!!!! DON'T THEY KNOW THAT THEY CAN GO TO JAIL FOR THIS?? Look at Lopez.
Charles flowers is a no surprise to making STUPID & DUMB mistakes and his flunkies are ALWAYS going to allow for him to have a FREE PASS! Nevertheless, this type of behavior is ACCEPTED and ALLOWED by parents and adults who ALLOW and ACCEPT destructive behavior by their children. Flower's high school Proviso East is a bastion of THUGS, GANGS, and other negative vices. Granted, there is always bound to be a success story here and there but such is nothing more than SUCCESS BY DEFAULT! The bottom line is there is a shortage of BLACK MALE TEACHERS who are TRUE with vision and equipped with the necessary tools to implement STRUCTURE and DISCIPLINE toward MALE STUDENTS of inner-city high schools in CHICAGO and it's surrounding suburbs. You have BLACK WOMEN teachers/administrators who have psycho-complexes and believe in WEAK approaches toward dealing with out of control and structure needing BLACK MALE STUDENTS! Charles Flowers is the EPITOME of the FAILURE OF BLACK BOYS and the misplaced priorities of the BLACK COMMUNITY which promotes DREAMS at the expense of being BOUGHT OFF by so-called GREED and MATERIALISM. I bear witness that on a given day there are a number of youth who have no idea of what they are doing insofar of gang representing, but even more pathetic is the irony that there guardians are forever proclaiming "my babee iz a guud boy. he aint in no gang." Such proclamations are blind and are usually made by the dumb, because the bottom line is the FACT that today's knuckleheads will rather know about the pedigree of Lil Wayne, Larry Hoover, Chief Malik (Jeff Fort), Geno, etc. rather than the biography of Paul Robeson, WEB DuBois, Benjamin Mayes, etc. Try asking one of these so-called future hip-hop gangster rap addicted, X-Box playing, stay-at-home with momma past 21 year old corn row hair styled "babies" to give you a realistic expectation of their goals in life during the next TWO YEARS and wait for the response of either becoming a BALLER or RAPPER. The BLACK FEMALES are too an integral part of the equation, because they are the incubators for the DNA donors who sire and produce the matter. This is a complicated issue, and unless one has lived through it and analyzed the many elements of a subculture's way of life then it is nearly impossible for one to understand the behavior Flowers and countless other who are thrust in the light of adulthood by way of MISGUIDED ADULTS.
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