By: Diane Benjamin
First ISU refused to give me a document I requested by FOIA claiming it was exempt. See this story
Next they gave me the document but redacted the part I wanted: See THIS story
Some light finally went on at ISU and they decided the document in the story above is NOT exempt from FOIA. Obviously somebody wanted to keep secret why RC McBride was handed the manager’s job at WGLT without it ever being posted. Why? Because they thought they could!
Today I received an un-redacted copy of the document in the 2nd story above.
Below is the previously redacted section:
To issue a WAIVER:
Do their reasons for issuing this waiver qualify as “Exceptional Circumstances”?
If ISU actually believed the answer was yes, why didn’t they release the document the first time I asked?
Anybody?
My hope now is that President Trump de-funds NPR. Why do we need taxpayer-funded media? That’s what Russia, Cuba, and China do.
America already has media willing to kiss up to government – nationally and locally. WGLT needs to pay for itself without ISU assistance or go away.
NPR’s end of the road was their latest 4 hour documentary in which they failed to interview ANYBODY they blamed for the current “Divided America”. It’s pure propaganda attempting to write their version of history . See it here
Propaganda needs to die, de-funding NPR is a start.
If President Trump has his way, RC Mcbidal will be looking for job soon anyway. Trump has said he plans to eliminate PBS all together. He said that government should not be in the news business… what an idea right? If you are reading this RC.. I still can write killer resumes!
NPR is not a part of PBS. Are you thinking of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) which does provide some funding to both NPR and PBS?
Any and EVERY media funded by tax dollars needs to go.
In a new report brought to you by the letter “O,” and the words “God, this is really happening,” The Hill reports that President-elect Donald Trump intends to eliminate the National Endowment For The Arts and the National Endowment For The Humanities, and privatize the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, the government entity that partially funds both NPR and PBS. The cuts, which were hinted at by unnamed members of Trump’s transition team, are part of a so-called “skinny budget” being pushed forward by conservative think tanks, and which is apparently being adopted by the administration, and will remove a whopping 0.02 percent from the $3.8 trillion federal budget.
Link here: http://www.avclub.com/article/trump-planning-kill-nea-cut-loose-pbs-and-npr-248721
Gotta start somewhere!
I am very interested in how, exactly, RC McBride single handedly balanced a $150,000 deficit. I think a FOIA for the finances (which ISU has a very difficult time providing) would be interesting. I wonder if part of that was because he is paid less than the former manager? Also, I’m curious who the fiscal agent for all of the WGLT accounts are…is it even RC McBride? Did WGLT receive and funding from the Town of Normal? Perhaps a Harmon Arts Grant? Who awards those? Finally if WGLT was running in a deficit for more than 2 years what cuts were made and if none, why and how did they cover that deficit during those years?
Their yearly financial audits are available on the website. http://wglt.org/auditsannual-reports
Interesting reading. I’m finding all kinds of interesting things like LOANS from Illinois State University to WGLT. Notably a loan from the Provost Office, perhaps from one of the Super Secret Accounts they have? So WGLT gets $186,000 in loans from Illinois State University which is an institution of Higher Education that is partially state funded and where students have to take out student loans with interest to be able to afford to attend. In my world loans do not equal a balanced budget, like if I’m forced to live off of my credit cards that’s not a good thing and not a balanced budget. Does anyone else see a problem with that? Perhaps ISU should be offering their students interest free loans? Oh wait that’s right, Illinois State University pretends to be a research institution so students and tax payers don’t really matter. Another example of a government by the government and for the government. Great job R.C. Good to know you are taking out loans for ISU and the Town of Normal. Keep up the great work and your highly specialized skills of creating an environment of debt that taxpayers can fund later.
NormalOne — she’ll FOIA it anyway. It’s the grandstanding she likes. Anyone look at the financial report available on line, or should y’all just speculate and pontificate a bit more?
I expected you to miss the story. Thanks for confirming.
ISU does have a General Counsel who is paid with state funds. I think she may have been serving as the EEOA officer when this waiver was signed. Do you think any state or federal laws might have been broken? Her job is to protect herself and Illinois State University – not the tax payers or students. I am aware of another person who was hired under what could be perceived as a fairly dicey situation (dare I say illegal)…if I remember correctly the requirements for the position were changed so that a relative of a certain person on the 2nd floor of Hovey Hall could be hired into a position she wasn’t qualified for.
Finding anybody willing to prosecute corruptions is the hard part. They only fry peons and high dollar thieves.
So is there not an obvious conflict of interest hiring someone that is so embedded in city government?
Yes. It will be interesting to see if he runs for re-election.