In late 2010 OpenCdA put up a series of posts about two Prince George’s County, Maryland, public officials, Jack Johnson and his wife Leslie,  who had been arrested by the FBI on numerous charges of public corruption.   Prior to his arrest, Jack Johnson had been the P.G. County Prosecuting Attorney and most recently the county’s Administrator.  Johnson’s  wife Leslie was a P.G. County Councilwoman.

Both Johnsons are scheduled to be sentenced in December.  Here is a link to the 76-page sentencing memorandum prepared by the US Attorney for the District of Maryland.  It reveals just how corrupt these trusted, well-respected, highly-regarded members of the Prince George’s County community were.  It reveals how Jack and Leslie Johnson betrayed the trust and confidence of their constituents and their friends.  It is a primer explaining how public officials can develop a sense of entitlement, omnipotence, and  arrogant disdain for their constituents and trusting friends. (more…)

Former Deputy Kootenai County Clerk Sandra Kay Martinson is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, October 31 at  10 a.m. in Kootenai County Courtroom #14 by District Court Judge Fred Gibler.  The sentencing hearing, originally scheduled for October 24,  was rescheduled to October 31.  Martinson has tentatively agreed to plead guilty on one count of grand theft for having allegedly embezzled over $100,000 from Kootenai County during her employment with the County.

Courtroom 14 is in the former federal building, now known as the Juvenile Justice Building, at 205 North 4th Street in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Some public officials aspire to public positions selfishly and are bad from the get-go.  Others accept their public positions fully intending to be honest and upright, but once in the position, they are subjected to official and unofficial pressures to bend or break the rules and laws.  Understanding what motivates dishonesty among some public officials starts with an examination of past behaviors by officials who have been uncovered and their deeds made public.

As you view and listen to this 13-minute video, consider the mnemonic M.I.C.E.:   Money – Ideology – Compromise (or Coercion) – Ego (or Extortion).  Although the mnemonic is generally associated with those who commit espionage, it can be applied to any public official who becomes corrupt by succumbing to someone using one or more of the controls it describes.

It has long been known that corrupt public officials route public money to charities, not out of the goodness of their hearts, but because those charities enrich the politician’s friends and campaign donors who then route money back to the officials via cutouts.

For some time now there has been another scandal erupting in Fantasyland-on-the-Potomac using this technique.  The Washington Post has run a series of stories about how the pros on the Washington, DC, city council do it.  Today’s story is headlined D.C. Council members use non-profit to decure money for favored projects.  This story has sidebar links to earlier Post reporting on the same story. (more…)

(Click on image to enlarge it.)

On December 3, 2010, North Idaho College (NIC) became the owner of just less than 17 acres of land next to its existing campus and the City of Coeur d’Alene sewage treatment plant.  This acquisition is part of the City’s plan to market that area as the “Education Corridor.”

For the 499 days between July 23, 2009, and December 3, 2010, NIC paid approximately $10,287,420  in “rent” to “lease” this land from the NIC Foundation.  That means NIC had used Kootenai County taxpayers money to pay approximately $20,616 per day to “lease” what was essentially bare ground.

“Wait a minute!”  you say.  “Why would NIC lease 17 acres of land for only 499 days at such an outrageously high rent?  Doesn’t someone normally lease land for many years to use it rather than own it?  If NIC wanted to own it, why didn’t NIC just buy it?”

The answer both those questions is straightforward:  It is our belief that the North Idaho College Board of Trustees wanted the land so badly that in order to get it, they were willing to circumvent the taxpayer protections required by the Idaho Constitution, Article VIII, Section 3.

(more…)

[

The Washington Times newspaper is reporting today that former Prince George’s County (Maryland) Executive Jack Johnson has decided to plead guilty to two felony public corruption charges.  Today’s story was headlined Johnson pleads guilty to public corruption charges.

Johnson, a former Prince George’s County Prosecuting Attorney, had solicited bribes in what federal officials characterized as a “pay to play” scheme.  (more…)