Laraine Wright Transcript

If you'd like to read the transcript of Laraine Wright's presentation to the SIU BoT yesterday, here, as far as I know, is an accurate copy:

Presentation to the SIU Board of Trustees

February 12, 2009

by Laraine Wright

I’m here to point out significant political and financial connections among three members of this board, SIU President Glenn Poshard, and ousted governor Rod Blagojevich. $25,000 was the basic play-to-play price for earning an appointment to a public board.

Roger Tedrick, insurance agent in Mt. Vernon – You gave Blagojevich $26,000, of which $5,000 came just two weeks after you became board chairma n.

Last month, the SIU legal counsel, Jerry Blakemore, said he had conducted an "internal audit" of the board at your request. Blakemore announced, "We wanted to make sure ... that none of the board members were in any shape, form or fashion appointed with a condition like financial contributions." He then pronounced you clean! Does the public believe any of this? Absolutely not.

John Simmons, Alton attorney – Your direct contributions to Blagojevich total $30,000. You have quite a happy relationship with him. You own the Miners baseball team and Rent One Park in Marion. With great glee, Blagojevich dropped $4 million into the $25 million venture while ignoring pleas from local school districts that had construction needs of thei r own. At the time, House Republican leader Tom Cross said, "...it certainly smells of ‘pay-to-play’ ... It’s frankly unbelievable."

Mr. Simmons, you seem to have plenty of money. In 2004, you said you would spend $40 million of your own dollars on a run for the U.S. Senate. Why, then, did Blagojevich believe you needed $4 million of our money?

Well, happily, you did have enough to hire a marketing director – Dennis Poshard, son of Glenn Poshard. But then several people with knowledge of the history of the Miners have called to tell me that you, Glenn Poshard, are a silent partner in the Miners yourself. If so, that $4 million benefitted you as well.

A firm called Holland Construction Services built Rent One Park. Now, there’s a familiar name. In a no-bid deal last year, this board approved $7.2 million to hire a construction manager for the $83 million Saluki Way project – none other than Holland Construction Services.

Then there’s the state requirement that construction contracts must be accompanied by contractor insurance. Which firm sold the required policies to the Saluki Way contractors? You can’t be too cynical when it comes to this board: Roger Tedrick’s firm happens to specialize in contractor and construction management insurance, and a Freedom of Information request should answer that question for us.

A third board member is William "Bill" Bonan II, regional president of Peoples National Bank and Market Street Bancshares of Mo unt Vernon – Your family gave $272,000 to Blagojevich who appointed you to this board in October.

Here is an example of the fun you can have as a trustee: In October 2006 Blagojevich gave $400,000 to SIU to support Connect SI, a fledgling regional broadband initiative based in Glenn Poshard’s office and chaired by Poshard.

Only five months later, $100,000 of that Blagojevich gift went to Dennis Poshard. Yes, this board of so-called trustees approved a no-bid service contract of $100,000 for the Arthur Agency, whose president and majority owner was none other than Dennis Poshard. Gee, this calls for another "internal audit"!

Last month, Glenn Poshard said, "We can’t control public perception ... About all that we can do is try to do the right thing." But the very actions of you and this board have created all of those negative perceptions. And just what is your definition of "doing the right thing"? And why shouldn’t we be highly worried if mega-millions in public dollars finally come to SIU for more construction, as long as these play-to-play board members and President Glenn Poshard are still here.

We now have a new governor, new Ethics Reform Committee, and a new director for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute who has pledged to become involved in state reform. So to Governor Pat Quinn, to Sheila Simon who serves on the committee, and to David Yepsen, new Institute director, I have one thing to say: "Go get ‘em."