Corona Updates Illegal Campaign Finance Report
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 10/28/08 @ 7:54 am - Filed Under Uncategorized
A local paper covered my complaint regarding FWCS board member Steve Corona’s illegal campaign finance report:
After learning of the complaint, Corona said he called his campaign treasurer, Bruce Boxberger, a local attorney, about the omission.
Boxberger filed Corona’s original campaign finance report with the election board and said the omission of itemized expenditures was an oversight.
The correct form was faxed to the election board Friday.
[...]
“I just wanted him to file the page before the election. If he’s filed it, I’m OK with that,” Pruitt said. “I think it’s important to know where everybody’s money comes from and who it goes to.”
I’m glad he corrected the error in an expedited manner. If you are interested about where his money came from then you should know that the vast majority of it came from people who do business with FWCS. Local architect Mike Gouloff gave him $5k of the $8k he raised.
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18 Responses to “Corona Updates Illegal Campaign Finance Report”
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Nice.
So if Corona gets re-elected, let’s see how fast all of his business goes to Mike Gouloff. Think JG will report on this? Yeah. I don’t think so.
Kristina,
Yes, Mike Gouloff supports Corona. But to be fair, EVERY building project is voted on by the school board in an open meeting.
I am a little upset that Gouloff is taking shots for supporting a candidate. Gouloff also does a lot of good for our community. From a recent News Sentinel article:
Each Friday at Adams Elementary School, students will receive a backpack full of food to ensure they have something nutritious to eat over the weekend. The program, Blessings in a Backpack, is sponsored by SchenkelShultz Architecture.
“We hope to expand the Blessings in a Backpack program to additional schools yet this year,” said Mike Gouloff, chairman and chief executive officer of SchenkelShultz. “Our goal is to offer a program to feed all the children who need it. To do so, we’ll need support from the community.”
They are currently spending $600 per week on this effort. I applaud Mike Gouloff for taking on this task.
Kevin,
I applaud his work in regards to that program as well. However, it’s infinitely easier to support a cause that is simultaneously lining your pockets…
So how long will it be before Blessings In A Backpack becomes another job to be paid by FWCS? Presently feeding kids during the week (even in the summer at the parks!) - now going toward feeding them on weekends also!
Hey - “Just take over all my responsibilities toward my kids and I really will not have to do anything!” - This has been the way we have been moving for some time - we have not yet killed all incentives to parenting - but we are working on it!
Why can’t we “teach a parent to provide nourishment” instead of “providing nourisment to kids in place of the parent” ???
John, I see your points completely and agree; however, I do feel sorry for the children. Until people are forced to step up to the plate they will not take responsibility.
I’m with John on this issue. ANY parent (or surrogate “guardian” or whatever you wish to call them) that simply CANNOT figure out the whole “milk, cereal, bowl, spoon” gig needs a serious “ass-whuppin’!
I also feel for the kids, Denise, but unless and until someone grows enough cajones to tell these folks to “get with the parenting program or lose your kids”, not much will change.
There ARE people out there that feel the world DOES own THEM as well as their kids a living, sadly.
B.G.
Hi Kevin,
It’s great that Mike Gouloff and his firm are involved in supporting the local schools and their students. Altruism is an awesome thing.
A couple of questions for you.
1) How much business does Mike and his firm get from FWCS (starting 27 years ago)?
2) Would he and his firm consider excluding themselves from any future work?
John and B.G.,
Seems to me that there needs to be a more balanced approach to how donations are focused for FWCS.
I’m not sure what prompted Mr. Gouloff and his firm to do what they did - if anyone can point me to the background of this - that would be great. I assume that someone within the school system identified the need. I can’t imagine that busy folks like Mr. Gouloff sit around and think up things like this.
Is there data (baseline and otherwise) to show that Mr. Gouloff’s generous contributions have contributed positively to one of FWCS’s goals?
And I don’t mean for that to come off as disrespectful. Hunger and poverty are real issues in our world.
Are we assuming that kids are starving?
Why aren’t Mr. Gouloff and these other groups who specialize in architecture, plumbling, electricity, etc….donating their time and resources to addressing these problematic building repairs?
That would be a fantastic way to address the shortfall of the current building fund. It would be very measurable in terms of results.
My personal opinion on feeding and clothing kids is that folks should work through community organizations like the United Way, YMCA/YWCA, and local churches.
Kristina,
The relationships and conflicts of interest between the Administration and certain School board members and the businesses doing work for the school system are deep seated and ongoing for some time. The Spoelhoef PAC which supported 4 candidates for school board 2 years ago,the funding for the write yellow campaign and now Steve Corona’s reelection campaign have all been funded almost exclusively by insurance companies,architects,construction firms and others who do business with the school system. While this may not be illegal it sure stinks to hugh Heaven of conflict of interest and suspicions of favoritism in the writing of bid specs,selection of suppliers and approval of contracts. If every school board member who had suppliers of goods and services to the System contribute to their campaigns would recuse themselves from voting on proposals involving those contributors I doubt there would ever be a quorum for voting on proposals or contracts in the open board meetings. Sad but oh so true!!
For the record, I do not know the Gouloffs, but greatly appreciate their work.
Teachers tell me the students who receive Blessings in a Backpack come back to school Monday mornings in much better shape than before they were blessed with these simple nourishing bakcpacks.
I’ve met some of the recipient children in our neighborhood who were with their parents, and very happy to have the food provided. These are caring folks, unskilled labor, out-of-work loving parents, who are most grateful for that little bit of food.
Seems to me, in the interest of the common good, we could be grateful for the assistance of Mr. and Mrs. Gouloff, and their foundation. They currently feed 700 children each weekend, and have a goal of 7,000 by the end of next year. They share, and that is to be commended. They were recognized for their work a couple months ago at a FWCS Board meeting.
I am sure there are injustices enough to make all of us cringe—PACs, special interest groups, favoritism; yes they exist. However, not everybody who works hard, prospers and shares is evil.
Our pastors teach us that those who give, get. It is an age old promise. Let’s wish every blessing back on those who care enough to give of their time and energy to paying taxes, tutoring skills, reading to the children, lunch buddy programs and the blessing of enough fresh vegetables and fruit to keep a family healthy over a weekend.
Hi Cara,
That is really great news! Please understand that I am absolutely not criticizing Mr. Gouloff and his firm for their generosity.
I was going in to analytical mode to try and understand how this correlates to the overall goals that we want to hold the school system accountable for.
On a related note, are all of these “backpacks” going to one particular school? A particular grade? Is there a social/welfare/safety-related issue that FWCS needs to get the city/county involved in?
You said, I’ve met some of the recipient children in our neighborhood who were with their parents, and very happy to have the food provided. These are caring folks, unskilled labor, out-of-work loving parents, who are most grateful for that little bit of food.
This sounds like the issue being addressed is much bigger than a FWCS situation and it’s more than just feeding kids. Sounds like their entire families are being fed???
Please don’t misunderstand me :). It sounds like a great program. My challenge to those who are in charge - the school board - the administration - is, what problems are you taking on that shouldn’t be your problems (given the number of priorities you should be focused on) and what entities can you enlist (for those situations) so that you can stay focused on what you should be held accountable for?
While FWCS can continue to want to solve all of the social and economic issues of the community, they really must get back to the original purpose of their existence.
And perhaps, that is the fundamental, philosophical difference between those who think that Steve Corona is doing a great job and those who think that he isn’t. He’s distracted by items that while may be good from some perspective, their “fit for purpose” really doesn’t correlate to what the school board should be focused on.
L Marine - I have another question for you.
What kind of relationship exists between Steve Corona’s “Job Works” and these entities that benefit from taxpayers monies (through FWCS spending)?
I did a search on the web - this appears to be their website (?) - http://www.jobworksinc.org/default.aspx - but it is poorly organized and does not seem to have any specific data other than contact points.
Kristina,
I know there are at least two schools presently being served with the Blessings in a Backpack program….I live in the South Wayne school area…. the backpack I saw was not huge, but it was roomy enough for a nourishing serving of fruit and vegetables for 3-4 people for a couple days. I did not ask to see what was in it. Our food banks are needing help now more than ever, so this mother was happy for her child to receive the goodies.
You are wise to ask about the scope of the problem. It is huge. Look at the United Way Allen County website, (www.unitedwayallencounty.org) to see the magnitude. Look especially at Condition of Children and Volunteer Opportunities. It paints a realistic picture of our community.
Granted, many of the problems start in the home. Some folks do not know how to cook a nutritious, low cost meal, or how to manage a household. I was told today that many of our Indiana Schools have removed Home Economics from their curricula. This is scary.
Among the problems faced by our community, and therefore shared by our schools: premature births and low birthweight resulting in about 300 special needs children per year in Allen County; lack of literacy in the home; and lack of enough food for the child to be able to concentrate on lessons unless he is fed before learning. To some of us, these situations are hard to imagine. I can see why some long for the ’50’s and also why others say we cannot go back there. We have strayed so far from the basics, the breadcrumbs may not lead us back!
This is not a racial problem…it is a community problem shared by all races. Loss of good manufacturing jobs, and the subsequent economic slowdown has made very difficult times for those who worked in that field.
I think the schools recognized a problem, and did what they could with it—remember in the ’50s school lunch programs cooperated with the U S Dept of Agriculture, thus the students ate better and farmers fared a bit better. It was a short step from lunch to breakfast, and another short step to summer lunch programs. Now we have a foundation helping out, thanks to the Gouloff’s recognition of need.
I agree we need the churches and social agencies to muster many of these programs. Our churches collect weekly for the food banks, but cannot keep up with the need. Also, for at least five decades, we have funded our school food systems through Federal programs. Again, how do we go back?
I venture into personal opinion here—and admit I may be dead wrong (again!). But it seems to me we (Allen County residents) have spent about $300 million on public projects in the last 5 years, which helped to buoy our local economy. The impact of our rising unemployment figures would have shown far sooner without those building projects. We are running out of tax dollars, and cannot continue to fund new public projects without impacting many of our property owners’ health and wellbeing.
As the economy tightens, we will see stresses on families needing the basics: vaccinations, preventative medical care, food, shelter, warm clothing and transportation. No school is immune to the side effects of these needs. This is not to say that all has been well and good for the last 30 years at FWCS, but rather, that we face unprecedented challenges in the next three or four years.
As to someone always playing the race card, well, it does distract us from the issues at hand, does it not? Let’s tell anyone who uses it to put it away and get busy. If we refuse to play those cards, but continue to work on the betterment of our community schools, it will show how foolish the card players really are. (Yes, Journal Gazette that means you and your minions. I am ashamed for you.)
If you need an enlightening program about the needs of the schools and our community, Jerry Peterson at United Way makes a great presentation.
Jeff Pruitt - This comment was auto-filtered by the spam-bot for some reason so I didn’t see it until today although it was posted yesterday. I altered the timestamp to reflect when it was approved so that it would show up in the recent comments list
In fact, it was Mike and Gretchen Gouloff who came to us about Blessings in a Backpack after learning of the program in other cities and realizing we have hungry children in Fort Wayne.
We have quite a bit of data that shows this program is making a difference - particularly in the areas of better attendance and fewer visits to the nurses office. Kids who are not hungry will learn better. At Adams Elementary where the program has been in place for more than a year, test scores are improving. We can’t attribute that specifically to Blessings in a Backpack, but we do believe it is one piece in a very complex puzzle.
We, too, wish that we didn’t have a need to send food home with children on weekends, but it is our reality. The food is sent home with the children, and they are free to do with it what they wish. They often share it with their parents and siblings. It’s not enough food to adequately feed an entire family for a weekend, but for some kids, it’s all they have.
Blessings in a Backpack is a great program, and we appreciate the Gouloffs efforts in supporting this. They receive nothing in return except our gratitude and the satisfaction that a fewer kids are going hungry each weekend.
Krista,
As I said in a previous comment I think it’s a good program and I’m glad Mike Guoloff provides the funding for it.
However, I think it’s a stretch to say that they receive nothing in return as I do believe he has received a reasonable amount of work from the district…
Jeff,
His company may well receive work from the district- but it is NOT attached to donation he makes.
That is an unfair statement.
Jeff - Let’s not turn this into a tit for tat discussion in regard to the Gouloffs. Many of us are very happy that hungry students get some good nourishment on weekends! My comment above was aimed at the possibility that someone would take a voluntary commitment on the part of these generous donors and convert it into another “entitlement” program funded by taxes.
And Krista, would the Gouloffs have agreed to fund a program in Fort Wayne Community Schools to educate students families on how to provide healthful meals?
And Cara- You are correct -our high schools have cut back or eliminated the home econ classes - on top of that, so many high school students drop out of school that there is no way they can receive any help in this area. And the plans for converting our high schools into “specialty schools” will make this even more difficult in the future!
Jeff/Kristina
Of course Mike Gouloff’s company gives back to FWCS. He goes through the same bid process as every other company bidding to win the business, and then the entire board has to approve the deal before it gets finalized. If another company won the deal for FWCS they would donate money back to the school system too…that’s how business works.