Katharine "Kathy" Hamilton is a former Illinois elected official who previously served as chairman of the Supervisory Board at the College of DuPage, a community college on the outskirts of Chicago. He was elected president after the election of three "clean slate" candidates sponsored by Hamilton in April 2015. Hamilton resigned on 12 December 2015.
His tenure as a guardian of the college was marked by controversy for him, college and the highest administrators in college.
When the administration came under media scrutiny in 2014 for a number of incidents related to its spending practices, Hamilton made national headlines for trying to publish campus expenditure details. He opposes tuition increases; spoke out against the efforts of college to get a $ 20 million grant from the state; encourage transparency after exposure of college presidents to spend college funds on personal items; and openly criticize campus accounting expenses and practices. After this event, he was formally denounced by the college board.
Following his criticism, local and national media publish stories that support Hamilton and punish colleges. The Chicago Tribune criticized the campus president's actions and the Hamilton council's condemnation. Forbes magazine praised his efforts to require the transparency of the college's public finances. The Washington Times gave the college its Golden Hammer Award, used by newspapers to highlight waste, deceit, and abuse in government.
After Hamilton's criticism, he continued his public pursuit of fiscal responsibility and was the only member of the board to vote against an initial $ 762,868 initial pension payment from a college president's contract. The purchase also became a widely covered event in the media and triggered negative reactions from local communities and some Illinois state legislators.
Video Kathy Hamilton
College of DuPage Trustee
Kathy Hamilton was elected by voters to the College Board of DuPage on April 8, 2013. She received 51,595 votes, with the second place winner getting 32,433 votes. On board, he held the position of vice-chairman until April 2015.
Tuition upgrade
In February 2014, College of DuPage administrators asked the Supervisory Board to raise tuition for $ 6 per credit hour. Hamilton and other guardians opposed the rise. In response, administrators lower their request to $ 4 per hour. Hamilton and two other guardians still oppose the rise and vote against it; The Supervisory Board gave it by one vote. In his remarks on an increase in tuition fees, Hamilton said that the increase was unnecessary and irresponsible, referring to a $ 140 million cash reserve campus.
In June, months after becoming chairman, Hamilton announced plans to lower tuition fees by $ 5 per credit and reduce local taxes by 5 percent. He told reporters that his tuition has increased 18 times in 20 years and is the highest of any college in Illinois.
Country grant
In May 2014, the College of DuPage, president Robert Breuder wrote a personal email to the trustee in which he stated that they needed to come up with an excuse to get a $ 20 million grant that the state had agreed to several years earlier but had not yet been channeled into college. Breuder writes, "I need to identify a project that will help release our state funding My idea: The Center for Teaching and Learning... A politically-focused teaching and learning building is more than just a student center, PE Facility, etc.. "He also proposed a plan to apply political pressure to Illinois Governor, Pat Quinn, as Quinn began giving lectures to graduate students. Breuder writes in an email, "When I introduce Quinn's Governor at the beginning, I want to help our goal (get $ 20 million sooner than later) by thanking him for his commitment in front of 3,500 people There are many voters in our district Please remember the 4th November. "
In June 2014, the Supervisory Board approved a $ 50 million class development project, including a $ 20 million grant from the state, as part of a $ 500 million expansion program. Hamilton is the only safe guardian to choose no. He wrote letters to several newspapers to share his concerns.
The Daily Herald published Hamilton's letter on July 8, 2014. In the letter, Hamilton wrote, "Recently, the COD board voted for the $ 50 million building for a new classroom." I am the only board member who opposed the investment, I feel the project ensures further analysis and definition of scope in terms of funding.... Additional classroom demand should include a complete assessment of current and future needs. "
At the next Supervisory Board meeting after the letter was issued, board chairman Erin Birt punished Hamilton. In September 2014, a college president's email became public after a government watchdog group called For The Good of Illinois, run by Adam Andrzejewski, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. In September, Andrzejewski published an article in Forbes magazine that criticized Breud and the Supervisory Board and praised Hamilton. Governor Quinn called the incident "very worrying" and canceled the grant.
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After Andrzejewski filed a FOIA, he learned that the campus presidential office runs a special fund called "imprest funds." Payments made from the fund have been hidden from the trustees and the community. The funds were used to pay some of Breuder's personal expenses, including $ 27,931 for membership dues at private firing clubs, along with money for satellite phones for travel to Africa, where Breuders shot and killed an African elephant. (The Forbes article published a photo of Breuder standing on a dead elephant).
In response to learning about imprest funds, Hamilton made it through a transparency initiative that forced colleges to publish on the Internet all payments made through imprest funds.
Censure of Kathy Hamilton
In August 2014, the Supervisory Board formally denounced Kathy Hamilton for inappropriate behavior. Disappointment states that Hamilton embarrassed the board members; send text messages from his phone during board meetings and refuse to send his text messages to public records; and that he had made inappropriate comments to lead Erin Birt's chairman at a public meeting.
Critics include the following languages:
- "[Hamilton] publicly embarrassed the elected board members and the campus administration."
- "The desire [of him] to communicate with the media, the press and/or political publications rather than directly with the council has negatively impacted the council and the campus"
- "On several occasions, Hamilton's Trustee publicly stated that only he who sought taxpayers erroneously implies that six (6) board members and college administrators left are irresponsible and neglected in their duties."
Disappointment passed with two no sounds and one abstention. Among Hamilton's supporters in the vote against criticism was Kim Savage's guardian, who had joined Hamilton in a vote not opposing a tuition increase in early 2014.
Following the criticism, the Chicago Tribune published an editorial that characterized criticism as "a very small temper temper," criticized the president of Breuder and Birt chairman, and defended Hamilton's right to express his concerns to the media about his opposition to the classroom construction project. Editorial writes, "Folks, this is called debate." Public bodies should have a sharp, vigorous, and turbulent debate.When COD officials want to secure state money again, they should show that they run a place that respects freedom of speech, which tolerates dissent In short, they run a college. "
Maps Kathy Hamilton
College of DuPage Board Chairwoman
On April 7, 2015, local elections were held for three of the six council seats. The three candidates who campaigned under the "clean slate" flag won all three seats. Hamilton openly supports all three candidate campaigns.
After the election, Hamilton's lawyer wrote a letter to the state prosecutor and local prosecutor to request action to prevent the board from holding any meeting until the newly elected councilors officially began their term of office.
Hamilton was elected as the new chairman of the council at the first council meeting after the election. Three returning councilors are the only guardians to vote against Hamilton as chairman.
Robert Breuder fired
On April 20, 2015, Hamilton and the newly elected guardian voted to put college president Robert Breuder on administrative leave. His departure coincides with an internal investigation conducted by the council into practices allegedly committed by schools in recent years. The council voted 4-1 to terminate Breuder's contract on October 20, citing evidence Breuder "participated in, oversaw or failed to prevent" examples of "errors and mismanagement," and that he was "involved in damaging the College's reputation."
Breuder has since filed a wrongful termination law seeking more than $ 2 million in damages and punitive damages.
Waterleaf Restaurant
Hamilton and the supervisory board voted 5-1 on August 13, 2015, to close the Waterleaf Restaurant, an "upscale establishment that comes to symbolize the expenditures being questioned by the belligerent president." The Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that Robert Breuder and the school administration had spent nearly $ 190,000 in restaurants on 500 occasions, "sometimes hosting community members but often meeting each other during lunch, dinner or drinks after work. "The investigation also revealed that by March 2015, Waterleaf had lost nearly $ 2 million since the opening.
The Waterleaf has since reopened as a student-run facility, operated by hospitality and culinary students under the supervision of the faculty.
Lecture and Property Tax deductions
Under Hamilton's ownership, the board also approved a tuition reduction of $ 5 per credit hour and reduced tax property tax by about $ 4.2 million, or about 5 percent.
Resignation
Citing "personal reasons," Hamilton announced his resignation as chair of the Supervisory Board at the College of DuPage on December 12, 2015.
Personal life
Hamilton sits on the board of the Chicago Metropolitan Children's Dyslexia Center and serves as director of the local ballet company. She married two children. Before serving in a public office, he is a certified public accountant (CPA). He previously worked in international corporate finance and holds an MBA in finance from New York University.
References
External links
- Campaign website
- Formal disappointment Kathy Hamilton, College Board of DuPage
- Payment List of College of DuPage Rewards (April 2013 to August 2014)
- PBS interview with Kathy Hamilton, trustee Joseph Wozniak, and Chicago Tribune reporter Jodi Cohen
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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