Vicki Stull, a Weisner crony who became executive director of the local United Way, has resigned to "pursue other opportunities."
Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner is a board member of the local United Way. Another Weisner crony, Bill Catching, a former city employee and former fishwrap employee, joined the United Way as the "Director of Development." The fishwrap then proceeded to help promote fundraising for the United Way with biased journalism.
We expressed concerns HERE about the United Way's fundraising and massive increases in expenses. Weisner also gave hundreds of thousands of dollars of your taxdollars despite his obvious conflict-of-interest. With cronies and wild spenders associated with Weisner involved, we thought there could be problems. Now, we hope the Weisner influence will be eliminated. And, if the rest of the board wants to restore credibility, Weisner needs to resign.
Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner is a board member of the local United Way. Another Weisner crony, Bill Catching, a former city employee and former fishwrap employee, joined the United Way as the "Director of Development." The fishwrap then proceeded to help promote fundraising for the United Way with biased journalism.
We expressed concerns HERE about the United Way's fundraising and massive increases in expenses. Weisner also gave hundreds of thousands of dollars of your taxdollars despite his obvious conflict-of-interest. With cronies and wild spenders associated with Weisner involved, we thought there could be problems. Now, we hope the Weisner influence will be eliminated. And, if the rest of the board wants to restore credibility, Weisner needs to resign.
33 comments:
I have not seen the 'Holiday Push" as usual from the United Way. Perhaps the "Chicken Little" routine last year is now their preferred method of fundraising. I'm sure Bill Cathing will find temp success in the cushy confines of corporate caring. nI'm sure Vicki loved her job....,maybe too much?
If her job was to love
I don't know about her relationship with any political people but I have worked her on ideas for Jericho Circle. I was impressed with her. I thought she had great ideas and always demanded that any programs that the United Way might help fund must be achievement driven. She was very clear that money would not be given unless the programs produced. Which I found to be exactly what we need. For the brief time that I have worked with her I found her to be intelligent and passionated about her job. I thought she was pretty good.
She did not strike me as someone who gets a job by sucking up to the Mayor.
That could be why she is out. She was working with you, Rick, to solve problems. Tom's priorities are of his own, not to solve the community's problems. I am no fan of Vicki Stull since she is very politically involved, but if she was really doing something positive with you, I give her credit.
This blog gives the mayor too much credit for the power and influence that he might exercise. The whole city does not revolve around the mayor nor does he control every aspect of the city.
Many of the events that occur in Aurora have nothing to do with the mayor. Some things just happen.
I have to agree 3:37pm. People give this guy Waaaaay to much credit and attention. If he was not mayor we would still have River Street Plaza, the Rounhouse, the upscale housing developments, better schools, a revitalization of downtown. This is happening everywhere in the Chicago area. No matter who became mayor in 2004 they would be able to ride this wave of prosperity. There simply is nowhere else to go except south and west into the cornfields and people need transporation and services. So where else but to go to the neglected cities and towns of chicagoland. I am very dissapointed at the speed at which Aurora has gotten on this bandwagon. We are way behind Joliet, Elgin, Waukegan and similar Cities in almost every aspect of what makes a great city. So again we see front page stories about traffic light cameras, and iPod law suits, and our committees discuss publc urination and defication. If we do not get going quick the train is almost passing us by. The leftovers from these other towns prosperity will call Aurora home just as they are already doing and before we know it....it will be too late. So Mayor Weisner focus on the big stuff, stop the micro managing, put on a teflon coat in the morning, let your aldermn fend for themselves and if they cannot stand on their own--let them go, hire the best damn staff anywhere, get more police on the streets, take a stand about the immense immigration issues Aurora faces....start doing Mayoral duties and as they say do not sweat the small stuff. All eyes are on you!
Amen 3:59
I couldn't have said it any better. Thank-you Rick for your insight on this. When you work with people you can tell people your experience with them to make it clearer how they really are and not just gossip.
Key words, "hire the best damn staff anywhere". There is a saying with respect to sports team that goes something like, you are only as good as your second team.
Is there a direct relationship between quality of staff and quality of leadership?
11/30/2006 3:59 PM
the mayor cannot focus on the big stuff, he NEEDS to be seen in the community events and hes busy cutting ribbons.
He likes to know that All eyes are on him!
How much money did the City of Aurora give to the United Way last year?
Crony on the brain syndrome again, openline.
to annon 12/02 @ 9:13am
And your point is?
That this blog believes that anyone who has attained success and professional achievement in this City is a crony of Tom Weisner.
to annon 12/03@ 9:13am
Who has attained success and professional achievement under Weisner? Please let me know so I can check it out and hope that whomever were not contributors to his campaign. This I do know, Bob Vaughn has reeked rewards and the way it was done does not smell right.
For more cronyism check out in Tom Rowe's appointment to the Township as temporary youth director. Tom labored and worked to get Whitey Peters hired at the Park District for years, setting aside their initiative to only hire those with BA in Recreation for Recreation Supervisor positions. It seem likely Whitey Peter's labored to get Tom a gig at the Township. Someone should ask the question why was Tom pushed out the door over at the Park District, and why was he passed over for promotion. And then ask the real question, do we want yet another person sucking off the public teat in terms of the kind of very generous pension and medical benefits that Tom's tenure at the Township will put him in line for? Gee home much do you think Weisner/Vaughn are tied up in the Rowe appointment?
why are there SO many 'anonymous' comments on this blog? If you have something to write sign it so we know who it came from instead of 'anonymous'.
12/08 @ 10:40
Great idea!!
You first
name and address is fine
Simple, often when you speak-up you lose your job. The park distric is a great example of that.
When you speak up, sometimes the "authorities" try to shut you down.
Openline sucks big old donkey dick, tee hee, How about random drug testing for all City employees including alderman? What do you think Rick Lawrence, you convicted crack head.
If crack cocaine made people be like Rick Lawrence then I might reconsider my position on legalization of drugs particularly crack cocaine.
In the mean time free speech is a wonderful thing but even free speech is moderated by rules of slander and libel.
Hey Leonard?
Fuck
Cunt
Shit
Cock
Gaping Ass Hole
Dangling labia
Oozing jizm
Merry Christmas
12/16/2006 3:59 PM
Anonymous said...
Dangling labia? The correct term is beef curtains, Lets try to be more sensitive.
Is anyone keeping tabs of Miss Vicki Stull's "other opportunities" that she is leaving UW to pursue? My question is, what other opportunities could she possibly be leaving to pursue with no educational background whatsoever to find another job like "Executive Director of the FV United Way". Anyone find it odd that someone so "dedicated" to her job would resign so suddenly before the year's campaign end? Maybe this has something to do with the sudden "jump" in expenses for Ms. Vicki Stull, no? Aw, come on - don't give up yet...
Bravo to you! I agree - someone should give that "fuzzy math" another look! I would think she would embrace a job like that with only a high school ed. behind her. Why would she leave the organization she "loves" so much, so suddenly?
I want to post, but all I can see are the words "beef curtains" from 11:41.
I think even the UW is having some trouble reconciling its "fuzzy math". The last audit result posted on their website is from 2003! Where's 2004? Or 2005 for that matter?
Quick review of timeline: O'Connor "abruptly abandons her post" in Aug. 2004 Asked to leave? Resigned? Railroaded? (Only the Shadow knows for sure!) Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Weisner campaign running strong! April 5th 2005 - Weisner wins election; April 26th 2005 - Weisner sworn in; April 2005 - Vicki Stull "gets made" at the UW. What creds did she bring to the table, initially? Not education, apparently. Experience? I'd like to see a copy of that resume from HR, please (if they even have one on file).
Don't not-for-profits have enough bad rep issues without hiring executives they don't check out? You think they'd learn.
I can attest to the strong Weisner/Stull bond. They spent a lot of time consorting both prior to and following his election. I wonder what Weisner's take on Vicki Stull's pursuance of "other opportunities" is? I think something's not right in Cronyland...
Still doing the breakdown on the Bill Catching thing.
Next, the Million Dollar explanation. Did we ever actually get one? Where's all that extra $$$ that they needed oh-so badly? I think we may just have found one reason that there are still no audit results posted for '04 or '05. Or are there more reasons? Leaves one to wonder...what's taking so long?
Well, gosh, in light of the recent (and sudden!) exit of Vicki Stull - if I were an agency director vying for funding or thinking of vying for funding, an agency director who was denied funding or just plain never received it, or, even a contributor of ONE PENNY to the UW for that matter, - I think I'd be demanding some answers of the Board. (Thankfully, I am none of the above. Not under the shadow of the current regime, anyway).
Oh Boy! This smells to high heaven!
Too many coincidences here friends.
Does anyone one know who would investigate these types of abnormalities? Can a person demand a copy of the United Ways Fiscal report under freedom of information?
Seems like the appropriate agency needs to get tipped off.
What agency do you tip off?
I'm sure that the info is there for the taking; it's just that no one ever really dives in. That's the way they like it!!
I do hope someone's paying attention- that's alotta money to be screwing around with. Especially since probably half of it is taxpayers $$$.
I honestly expect to see more on this. I don't believe we've heard the last of this situation. Yes, folks, something's not right in Cronyland.
Here are some interesting facts about the United Way:
-all of its employees have to sign confidentiality agreements. It's TRUE. I spoke with a former employee who said this is their policy. I cannot reveal what else this person said as they are concerned about sniper activity. But I might nod my head yes or no to direct questions if I know the answer.
-NO ONE polices the UW, no one! They are all independently operated, and have virtually nothing to do with the national organization. They can do whatever they want and answer to no one. Obviously, the Board never questions a thing. They just add the United Way's name to their resume and move on.
-Mooney & Thomas (UW's accounting firm according to their website)still has not completed an audit for 2004 or for 2005. (yes, that's why it's not posted on their website). Apparently, they are still "gathering information".
Weren't these the years that they claimed to be $1m in the hole? In the blog in which this was discussed in Mar of '06, the UW responded that the reason it took so long to "gather info" for the '03 audit was because they were undergoing an unusual period of change. What's their excuse now? Their fiscal year for 2006 started in JUNE, and they haven't completed an audit for 2004?
Why doesn't the Board do anything? Are they strictly figureheads? Or do they actually have some say so? I would think that as prominent in the community as some of the Board members are, they would be GRAVELY concerned about the uninterrupted, unquestioned practices of the United Way. I can't believe they have NOTHING to say about the constant and consistent delays of their organization's audit results? After all, even as figureheads, their names are one the line, too.
For cripes sake, this is an organization that takes in a couple of million dollars a year in donations from the community and raises most of these funds by tugging on the heartstrings of the uninformed, apparently. The rest of the funds apparently come from the mayor's office (er, excuse me, the taxpayers).
I would like to know - what the f*&$ is going on??? Anyone?
What? The UW has financial mismanagement? No wonder they have the support of Weisner and the fishwrap.
Okay, beyond the mismanagement of funds (that's a given), give some thought to this:
After some research, it appears she's officially resigned, but is on board as a "consultant"? Did they ask Diane O'Connor to be a "consultant"? It doesn't look like she's going anywhere, folks, at least not for awhile.
Questions: Is this the other opportunity she's resigned to pursue? If not, and she has really resigned to pursue other positions (meaning, NOT at the UW), then why don't they just keep her on as Executive Director instead of making her a "consultant"?
With all due respect, United Ways do not operate without oversight. Yes, each United Way is independent and governed by a local board of directors charged with legal responsibility of the organization. Board members should be independent and free of any conflict of interest. Sadly, this is not always the case.
Furthermore, each local United Way is required annually to sign off on United Way of America's membership standards. Failure to comply with these standards can result in loss of membership in United Way of America and use of the United Way name.
In my experience, when something smells it's usually rotten. If you're an Aurora resident, current or former donor to United Way, please do something beyond posting to this blog. Begin by contacting members of the board of directors. It may take 10 or 20 calls before you get to the right person, but someone will listen. Aurora, the surrounding communities, and more importantly, the clients of United Way supported services deserve better.
To 3:11 pm -
Ok - I withdraw my statement about ALL United Ways not being policed, and I will rephrase: NO ONE is currently policing the Fox Valley United Way. Fair?
I don't know whether the National Organization has or has not had its "membership standards" signed off on by the Fox Valley UW, but I would hope they would have to do more than just "sign off", for god's sakes, what does that prove?
I also agree that in good faith to the community from which this UW solicits donations and contributions, the Board of this organization should be free of conflicts of interest. That is clearly not the case in this situation. You've already got the Mayor of Aurora (conflict; since tax dollars are being funneled there through his influence, and Vicki Stull is a known crony of his); the Board's own Chair is Vicki Stull's cousin. And the biggest problem here? This Board has consistently ignored (or even approved) things like, the "Chicken Little" campaign ruse via the Beacon (mentioned in the first comment - UNethical), consistent money mismanagement, skyrocketing expenses, audit results that post over $59K in "bank overdrafts" plus a whole host of other red flag expenditures (check 2005 audit results on FVUW's website), and has already looked past complaints of agency directors and donors.
With all due respect, is this the Board that we're supposed to complain to?
I agree, the community deserves better, and so, for that matter, does the United Way Organization.
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