Chicago Food and Beverage
Someone has some 'splaining to do...
New Lenox Mayor Michael Smith has a more of a problem than he thinks. In this post I pointed out his rather hysterical problem that he spent $1,462 in one night at a strip club on the New Lenox town credit card.
Mr. Smith didn't quite come clean though when asked about the situation. I mean, given he wrote the reimbursement check from his and his wife's account for $3,244 it was probably bad enough that he spent half of that at a strip club.
But that isn't the whole story. The Trib reported:
A total of $1,300 was charged March 11. It's listed under Chicago Food & Beverage, but Smith said he couldn't recall the precise name of the restaurant.
If one were to call the VIP Club at 312-644-7400 (not work suitable if you are slow) and ask them how charges on your card appear if you were to take clients there, the answer is that for the admission fee and drinks, it appears as VIP Club. However, if you purchase what is described as 'house cash', it is charged as Chicago Food & Beverage. Hence, a nice round $1,300 on the New Lenox account.
So he spent a nice 2,762 at the VIP Club overnight on March 10-11. I hope someone got laid for that much. Not that I'm promoting prostitution, but for goodness sakes, if you are going to drop $2,700 in a few hours, someone should have gotten more than a dry hump or they are really pitiful.
Mr. Smith lied to the Trib, probably the other town officials and almost certainly to his wife.
To add more fun to the pot, it appears that El Geraldo's office that Smith was never actually the Campaign Chair. Let us remember that Smith gave the welcome at El Geraldo's campaign kick off and was identified by the Home Town Morris Daily Herald as campaign chair. Unfortunate.
While I normally don't care much, if the regular media picks up on this--I want some acknowledgement on this one. I at least have to explain to the wife why I'm calling strip clubs late at night.
Crossposted at ArchPundit
15 comments:
Why haven't criminal charges been brought against him yet???
http://www.pjstar.com/news/ssection/yearinreview/2005/top10/yea_B8IF71NA.NW1.shtml
"Pekin Mayor Lyn Howard never denied using a city-issued credit card to withdraw about $1,400 so that he could feed some video poker machines on the Par-A-Dice Riverboat Casino in East Peoria. He just never thought his actions were against the law.
A Tazewell County jury disagreed with Howard in early November and convicted him on three felony counts of official misconduct. He was sentenced a month later to 30 months' probation, 100 hours of community service and mandated participation in gambling addiction rehabilitation. He must also give talks to schools and other community organizations about the harm gambling can cause. Howard resigned his mayoral post."
THIS IS A CRIME!!! Is Will County SA, James Glasgow going to do his job and charge this mayor, like Stu Umholtz did in Tazewell County with the Pekin Mayor, or is Glasgow going to follow IL AD Lisa Madigan and do absolutely nothing about government corruption?
Thanks ArchPundit. If they give you credit, can I get credit for pointing out an almost identical situation where a Mayor not only lost his job but was convicted for abuse of power over government credit cards?
I think you are right, and not to promote prostitution either, but for that amount of money they should of all got laid
Jeff-
I think the difference in Pekin is that the Mayor there didn't pay the money back.
And the accusations that Glasgow is somehow acting politically are absurd. Michael Smith is a Republican who's given thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and the Will County GOP. Including Glasgow's opponent in the last State's Attorney's race, Jeff Tomczak.
Let the voters dump him, let his wife divorce him, and let Jeff Tomczak focus his resources in going after the power company for leaking nuclear waste into our drinking water.
And cheer up Trigg -- there are plenty of real conspiracies out there without you inventing bogeymen.
I meant "Let Jim Glasgow focus his resources...."
I wanna party with this guy!
YDD-
You are joking right. This isn't like booking a vacation on the municipal computer or stopping by to run a personal errand in the municipal car. This is utilizing $2700 worth of municipal credit.
That is theft whether he paid it back or not.
It ain't criminal; it's just stupid.
BTW according to the Daily Southtown- Greatest Chicago Area Paper - Mayor lap-dance blew his salary increase as well - that'll put him in solid with the old lady.
“So he spent a nice 2,762 at the VIP Club overnight on March 10-11. I hope someone got laid for that much”
I’m not condoning this behavior, but let’s at least remember the context, Arch. It’s not like Smith was there by himself running up this tab. The charges were made during a bachelor party for which he said he picked up the tab.
Still, that being said: was Smith wrong to have charged this on the municipal card? I don’t know. I personally find these specific charges to be a little outrageous, and I think the Mayor certainly has set a terrible example for the young men in his community. But, in general, it is true that personal use of a municipal card and then paying it back with personal funds is a perfectly legal, not to mention pretty common practice (so no, Gish, it’s not “theft”).
More importantly, he sincerely acknowledged that it was wrong and apologized profusely. ("[it was] a very, very bad mistake. I can't say anything else about that; just very poor judgment.” “I'm very apologetic to the community for it," "I'm hopeful that this has not tarnished the community in any way."). And on a moral level, this is quite a far cry from, say, engaging in sexual activity with a subordinate during business hours and then lying about it to a grand jury and offering a weak, non-apology statement of remorse to the public, don’t you agree? Mr. Smith should be embarrassed, but let’s keep things in perspective.
BTW, Arch, can you reference exactly where Weller’s office denied that Smith was ever actually the chair? I’m not saying that you’re making it up, but citing the actual, full quote would be nice if you’re going to attack him for it.
Gish - I'm not condoning it, I'm just saying it doesn't seem to rise to the level of prosecution. He showed very poor judgement, that's what elections are for. Rest assured, the voters and his wife will punish him severely.
==I’m not condoning this behavior, but let’s at least remember the context, Arch. It’s not like Smith was there by himself running up this tab. The charges were made during a bachelor party for which he said he picked up the tab.
I had my bachelor party in New Orleans over a three day weekend. Another friend had his in Vegas over a three day weekend. Collectively we didn't spend that much in either city in strip clubs and we spent a fair amount of time in strip clubs both weekends. That's a lot of money in strip club even with $8 beers and $20 lap dances.
===BTW, Arch, can you reference exactly where Weller’s office denied that Smith was ever actually the chair? I’m not saying that you’re making it up, but citing the actual, full quote would be nice if you’re going to attack him for it.
No, I don't reveal sources, but it is accurate.
em·bez·zle
Pronunciation: im-'be-z&l
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): em·bez·zled; em·bez·zling /-(&-)li[ng]/
Etymology: Middle English embesilen, from Anglo-French embeseiller, from Middle French en- + besillier to destroy
: to appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use
GOP-
I don't have experience with municipal credit cards and in some locales maybe it is legal to use the credit card for personal reasons as long as you are reimbursed. I also believe that in some locales these cards are specifically designated for municipal business use only. While he may not have been guilty of 'theft of monies' since he paid it back, he could certainly be considerd guilty of 'theft of credit' meaning he used the municipalities credit without approval.
Like I said municipalities may be different. At the state level, people are issued Diner's Club cards which they are responsible for paying and getting reimbursed from the state so there may be a tangible difference. Many municipalities are direct bill which is a considerable difference.
YDD-
Didn't mean to imply you condone the issue. I guess I personaly see little difference between the two cases but I think I get where you are coming from.
Official misconduct is a state law and is a felony. Lyn Howard was charged with and convicted of official misconduct for illegally using the city's credit card, not because he didn't pay it back. While he didn't pay it back as quickly as Smith, Howard did pay it back before he was charged, and, I believe, before it became public. Even assuming he didn't pay it back, it is still a crime of official misconduct to use the credit card in that manner.
YDD, I said absolutely nothing about a conspiracy. It can hardly be considered a conspiracy when Democrats openly ignore corruption. If you don't think this rises to the level of a crime, get on the jury and vote your conscience.
If Glasgow ignores the law he is telling every government employee in the state it is acceptable and legal to use government credit cards for personal reasons, as long as you pay it back. That is simply wrong.
Can someone please FOIA the receipts for the past year. I'm thinkin' that there are more receipts...
The only guy better than this to party with is Babu Kathuria or the 1st ward commiteeman
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