Reaching the "Popeye" Moment: Todd Rowden
Todd Rowden calls his recent involvement in unveiling and fighting a scheme involving millions of taxpayer dollars and the public school system his “Popeye” moment.
Rowden, an Illinois attorney, elaborates: Popeye, after being taunted mercilessly by his arch-enemy Brutus, utters those iconic lines, “I can’t stands it no more.”
After witnessing elected officials apparently squandering taxpayer resources intended for public schools, and attempting to discredit those who stand up to them, Rowden couldn’t stand it any more—and he’s working with William Tarsitano, an outraged taxpayer, to fight back.
“We deserve better,” Rowden said. “I decided that instead of simply standing quietly by and allowing this to happen, I would do something.”
The story begins in 1999, when the Illinois Association of School Boards, the Illinois Association of School Business Officials and the Illinois Association of School Administrators established a non-profit energy company, the Illinois Energy Consortium (IEC). The stated purpose: to help school districts snag better prices for electricity and gas contracts.
The real story, however, doesn’t seem to be about helping schools. While claiming to help public schools get better deals, the interests behind the IEC have been reportedly charging school districts exorbitant fees unrelated to utility services. Whatever the label—“royalty payments,” “administrative charges,” or “marketing efforts”—in the end, it’s all the same: the money was going to bureaucrats, not to the children.
According to the Chicago Tribune, “about $4.5 million in fees was collected from school districts in the last three years, with the bulk of it going to the consortium’s creators.”
So when Palatine Township High School District 211 signed on with the IEC for an estimated $9.5 million contract without getting bids from competitors—which is illegal under Illinois statutes—Tarsitano contacted Rowden, who took on the case pro-bono, forgoing thousands of dollars in income, and filed a lawsuit against the district in June 2006.
District 211’s Board of Education responded with a motion to dismiss Tarsitano’s lawsuit, but Cook County Circuit Court Judge Phillip Bronstein rejected the district’s arguments in August and the case has advanced. A ruling is expected in April.
In the meantime, Rowden encourages others to stand up in their own communities by doing whatever they can—attending school board meetings, addressing Boards of Education, emailing friends and neighbors, and writing letters to the editor.
“If we as citizens don’t exercise our right to hold our elected officials accountable, that right may disappear,” Rowden says. “If we challenge these actions and win, we serve as examples to others.”
“Men and women of good conscience can make a difference,” he continues. “Raising their voices to challenge this type of behavior by elected officials casts the bright light of disclosure on their actions. Only then is change possible.”
Here’s to Todd Rowden and William Tarsitano.
