Cook County Official Arrested for Misuse of County Funds

-By Warner Todd Huston

It is being reported that on Jan. 14 the superintendent of the Cook County Regional Office of Education, Charles Flowers, was arrested for giving “large cash advances” to his sister and girlfriend.

Apparently, Flowers has been a long-time troublemaker cloaking himself in the guise of an elected official. In 2006 Flowers somehow beat incumbent Robert Ingraffia (Republican) for the office yet even as he prepared to take his new office Flowers seemed to imagine that he was going to also keep his seat on the District 209 School Board.

District 209 finally threw him off the board because he refused to resign. Why was Flowers refusing to leave an unpaid school board position to go to a paid one? Your guess is as good as mine.

As soon as he took office Flowers began to abuse his position. His office has become $1 million in debt, he took $190,000 from the County which it now the wants it back. And now he’s accused of paying thousands in “consulting fees” to his sister and girlfriend. That on top of his other problems.

Flowers, 51, of Maywood, stole more than $10,000 from the regional office, with a total loss of about $376,000, according to State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. Flowers turned himself in at the Maybrook Courthouse earlier today. He is expected to appear in bond court tomorrow morning.

This guy has been trouble since day one. Let’s hope he gets convicted, jailed, and more especially removed from being able to further damage the County government.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.

He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston

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