Honesty from politicians is a must
Remember when it turned out that
- The allegation that Alicia Butler fudged on her resume has yet to be proven, and Butler insists her resume is accurate.
- Even if Butler fudged her resume, it never cost anyone their job.
That being said, there’s little room in my heart for public servants who mislead the public about anything.
These accusations are damning. Whoever tipped off the Peoria Journal Star is anonymous, so it might very well be a campaign rival or an enemy who timed the attack perfectly. But that is of interest only as a footnote. The articles in the Journal Star quote real people who are using their real names. Butler is quoted in the Journal Star as saying the allegations are false and that she will e able to defend herself. As is the case in the Marshall Dunnigan situation, it is up to Butler to release the information — in this case her Bradley University transcripts — that would show that her resume is accurate or false.
It’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of
The patience of Butler’s supporters is wearing thin. She has to come up some some rational defense for this. Failing that, she’s going to need to make one Hell of an apology.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
“Butler insists her resume is accurate.”
Did I miss something here? All I’ve seen is a vaguely worded, lawyerly statement that she “stands by her record and experience,” whatever that means. Hardly what I’d call a definitive declaration of innocence, and really comes off as spin control.
She has had plenty of time and media access to mount a defense, and has chosen not to do so… and it’s not like she’s had a phobia of TV cameras over the last few years. One can only believe this is because her position is indefensible.
“Even if Butler fudged her resume, it never cost anyone their job.”
Really? If a legitimately qualified job candidate went into an interview and was up against Butler for the position, and Butler used a fraudulent resume to get the job, I’d certainly consider that “costing someone a job.”
I was refering to no one at the district losing their job because her resume might not be accurate.
Really? Because I can think of one very high profile district employee who lost her job while Butler was in office.
Come to think of it, that person’s academic credentials and work history were kinda dicey, too.
Makes you wonder.
If she is unable to prove that she didn’t lie, she should be tossed out of the race, and perhaps banned from holding any public office for life. If I (or most anyone) walked into a job interview and the interviewer discovered a falsified resume, I would be out on my ass long before I could say, “Gee, I don’t really remember what year I graduated from college, or for that matter, which college I received my MBA from!”. Politicians should be held to a HIGHER standard than regular citizens, not a lower one.
Hmmm, didn’t Bradley U. say that she did NOT graduate from there?
Did she claim a degree from Bradley?
That is pretty open and shut, I think.
Good follow-up post but I think you need to write her off. Your continued support of her isn’t warranted based upon her actions. In the former Mayor’s case, he was denying actions unrelated to his position as Mayor but that related to his PRIVATE business. While integrity and honesty at all times is important (and he made a mistake in denying what was easily proven false), whether or not he intended to off-shore jobs was irrelevant to his suitability for election.
Butler’s lies are directly related to her campaign to the School Board and she utilized degrees and prior positions as part of her resume that supported her qualifications for the position. While none of them, in my mind, make her a better or worse candidate for the office, there really is no difference between what she did and Ransburg did. They both lied and that speaks loudly about integrity, truthfulness, and trustworthiness. F to both of them.
The impact on the board if she isn’t reelected is really a red-herring. We can’t support a discretion committed by one person because we like their “politics” and condemn another for the same offense because we don’t agree with their stance on issues. I’m not a big fan of situational ethics.
It would be one thing if Bradley were mum on the whole issue and it were just the Journal Star hurling accusations and Butler denying them. That would be your typical “he said, she said” type of situation. But in this case, Bradley has definitively said that Butler did *not* receive a degree from there, and that it is definitely not a clerical error.
You say, “As is the case in the Marshall Dunnigan situation, it is up to Butler to release the information — in this case her Bradley University transcripts — that would show that her resume is accurate or false.”
What are the options here?
1. She somehow received a bachelors and masters degree from Bradley without Bradley knowing about it.
2. Bradley is in error somehow: lost her records, is looking at the wrong Alicia Zipprich/Butler, gross incompetence, etc.
3. Bradley is part of a large conspiracy to smear Butler’s name and make her lose the race for school board.
4. Bradley is right, Butler doesn’t have a degree, and she’s trying to save face by insisting she’s a victim of political intrigue.
Options 1 and 3 are obviously ridiculous. Option 2 is what I’m guessing Billy is banking on, but I’m sorry, I just can’t buy it. We’re not talking about just one degree here, but two. We would have to believe that Bradley lost all records of both degrees and all her masters coursework, grades, and admission info. And only hers. This is just too far-fetched to believe. Option 4 is the only one that is seriously plausible.
I guess there is one hyper-conspiratorial theory that I left out. Maybe someone broke into Butler’s house and stole her documentation, then hacked into Bradley’s computer system and deleted all info about her degrees, leaving her without any way of retrieving her info or proving her innocence. They do that kind of stuff on “24″ all the time, so I guess it’s possible.
How much time does it take to go to the back bedroom, pull your degree off the wall and show the reporter? There is no level of apology acceptable in this situation. Her only way out of this was to come clean right off the bat when the PJS reporter called her. But she didn’t so it is time to write her off. That said, I don’t think you need a degree to be on the school board. My personal view is that the only qualification should be that you are a parent with kids in the school. That assures you are truly vested in the quality of the education provided. What we don’t need is liars. So if you say you have a degree, you darn well should actually have the degree. Vote for the other candidate!
Joe says, “My personal view is that the only qualification should be that you are a parent with kids in the school. That assures you are truly vested in the quality of the education provided.”
I disagree. One could just as easily argue that a qualification should be that you not have any kids, since you might show favoritism to your child’s school, whereas someone without kids would be able to deal evenhandedly with all schools.
“pull your degree off the wall ”
A lot of schools don’t hand out printed diplomas anymore unless you specifically ask for one (and pay extra for it). I never got a printed diploma. But… my transcipt is quite clear that I got a degree.
Your transcript is going to be more meaningful than that certificate on the wall.
I have taken a non-scientific survey and more than half of my friends do not have diplomas on the wall and about that number think “it’s in a box somewhere. Or maybe the filing cabinet. Or maybe at my mom’s house.”
I persist in being ever so slightly amused by the contention that everyone frames their diplomas and knows where they are.
Billy, I know this is just a technicality, but no one at LR Nelson lost their job because Ransburg lied. They were going to lose their job, and he lied about it. He’s still scum, but it wasn’t cause (lying) and effect (lost job).
Billy,
Why do you only pick on Ransburg. I don’t think it is hard to think of statements made by present officeholders that could be considered lies based on your present use. Situational ethics never holds water to common sense.
Also, what a private business will do is not news until it actually happens. Otherwise, it is insider information.
How did Butler, who admits to going to BU for 4 years (and BU admits she attended full-time for 4 years) get a masters degree and a BS? It takes a little longer than that, doesn’t it?
MDD, it depends on the program, and on how many credits you come into college already having (from AP classes and so forth). I know several schools have masters programs where you knock off a masters in a 5th year after getting a bachelors in the same subject in 4 years, so conceivably you could come in with a year of credit in general education classes and do 3 undergrad with the 4th tacked on for the masters. My JD/MTS program was 4 years instead of 5.
But again, unless proof is presented …
I like Alicia but with her performance on a morning radio show today, she is clearly in denial here and has phsychological problems that need to be taken care of. She obviously feels the need to overcompensate for feeling intellectually insecure. Her lying has escalated to pathological levels. I think she has convinced herself. She even shaved 4 years off her age in the last election. Now we find out she wildly inflated her employment experience as well. Does she know truth from fiction?
To me Alicia clearly beleives she is smart and deserving of the status a degree confers but it seems she fell a little short of an undergraduate degree and totally fabricated an MBA. Getting away with that for years, she began to inflate her resume as well. She needs an intervention from friends and family. Either produce a transcript and get off of hiding behind lawyers or come clean Alicia. How about just saying, “I’m sorry I don’t know what got in to me. I almost graduated with an undergraduate degree.”
Anyone thinking she is still electable is also in denial about political reality.
She should be prosecuted for defrauding the public. After all she was elected due to lies.
I’ve posted my resume on my blog in hopes she can see what a real resume should look like.
You are a deeply troubled human being.
Very funny.
Sorry Bill, you can butter this b*t*h cause she is toast.
Hey, everybody, I have a Ph. D. from Harvard and I single-handedly saved 30 million people from starving with one fish! Elect ME!
Whatever the implications of personal destruction (whether self-imposed or opponent-imposed), these will be fascinating polling results. Mayor Marion Barry was re-elected to public office (by 94% of the vote) after some peculiar philandering and having served a sentence for crack-use. Bill Clinton still gets a pass for lying and inarguably bad behavior. Our current President continues to serve without any real threat to his presidency for what dem’s and lib’s view as patent lies – even his own camp gives him a pass for preceived deceptions.
Whatever anyone thinks of lies or truth-telling, Alicia Butler could receive numerous votes or very well be re-elected . Now THAT will provide some remarkable commentary upon the human race. Ah, the intrigue of American representative government.
This whole thing is BS. Butler was the visible face of opposition to the Glen Oak Park issue. The rest of the board members didn’t bother to educate themselves on the issue and/or just followed the herd. Payback. I’d like to see Butler re-elected and the the rest of the BoE resign. We need a Bof E responsive to the Peoria Public.
What kind of logic is this, yes she is scum but she is my scum, so she is good scum, get rid of the other scum.
Raoul: That’s funny, I’ve always found her to be hardworking, knowledgeable, concerned. As a person, she’s warm, friendly and funny. She is not “scum,” a word you seem to toss around easily behind a wall of anonymity. What word to you hold in reserve for people who commit far worse crimes? I’m not defending the act’s she’s accused of committing, but your choice of language disgusts me.
Wow, go away for 10 days and I miss so much. Bill, you say that she is warm, friendly and funny. You are right. Let me guess…When she talks with you, she gently touches your arm while standing pretty close. Then, when you say something funny, she shifts her weight from one foot to the other while bumping her shoulder into yours. She may even find a way to rest her head on your shoulder in a “playful” sort of way and don’t forget the flick of the hair with the big smile. Come on…she is playing you. She plays everyone. She doesn’t appear to talk badly about people until she knows you really don’t like someone so she just puts out statements to get your reaction. These statements are things like, He’s a big republican or democrat. He/She is close to…. Then, little by little, when she knows more about you, she will agree with almost anything you say. If you mention a school board topic, she is on your side and voted the same way you would have wanted. If you call her on something in the past, she always has a reason, like the wrong information or too much pressure. She even puts her own attributes on others. I remember when she kept accusing Royster of lying about her age and credentials. I am ashamed to say that I believed her “act” for about 5 years and then my wife woke me up and told me to listen more carefully and to WATCH. After a while, we would just watch the school board meetings and try to identify her current lie like “My house is 100 years old and is in perfect condition”. She doesn’t even own a house. She also said that Royster had her “tailed” and her boss had to put in a security system so she would be safe. I think Roger Monroe actually wrote about this. I guess that was when she was a pretend marketing director. I heard that she even became a Richwoods fan to gain votes this year. If you really care about her, tell her to get help. It sickens me that nobody is talking about that she needs professional help. People are more concerned that she is in their pocket. I hope all her supporters will be there to pick up the pieces because it won’t be pretty.
Great response.
I noticed a bloom of Butler signs in the yards today driving my usual route home.
I have much more colorful language for worse crimes, I just reserved scum for this particular incident. I hate liars, I like a**holes that don’t lie, strange but hey thats the way it is. I may hate your politics or point of view but if you are honest and passionate about whatever weird sh*t you are into I can respect that. Dishonest politicians or business people that try and play all the angles sicken me and are scum. If this chick were an ugly old dude I think you might feel differently. Keep it up though, who knows in a few months you may be able to grab the front of her shopping cart and steer her mumbling a** down farmington road for a bit o fun and games.
To whom are you referring?
Kay Royster, who, I assure you, did not lose her job because of Alicia Butler’s resume.
Eyebrows, if you were in Butler’s shoes and the media was publicly questioning your integrity, how long would it take you to produce proof of your degrees? Until after the election or sooner?
Eyebrows, if you or the friends you surveyed were in Butler’s position, i.e. having your integrity publicly questioned, how long would it take you to find and produce proof of your degrees? Two weeks, until after the election?
Since Prairie Celt (Dr Kay or her husband) is so interested in what is happening to Alicia Butler who voted to boot Royster out, I think the SAME scrutiny of Dr. Royster’s academic credentials is in order. It is highly possible funny business might be found there as well.
Dr. Royster came to District 150 from Michigan which does not require a “Superintendent’s Endorsement.” Obtaining such an “endorsement” requires a series of specific college courses like all other college degrees. Therefore she was hired with a “provisional superintendent’s endorsement,” pending her taking the required courses on her own time during a specified period.
She claims to have gotten the endorsement/degree from ISU. Well knowledgable people believe she did NOT attend any classes at ISU. She simply transfered credits from Roosevelt University in Chicago to ISU which then issued the degree. Highly unusual to get a degree from a university when you take no courses there.
Another important point, at the times she now claims to have taken the classes at Roosevelt University in Chicago, she was in Peoria on the job and unable to be in two places at the same time.
She did not have enough vacation days in her contract to have been able to go to Chicago repeatedly to take the courses. And on days the courses took place she was at school board meetings or other meetings/events in Peoria and not Chicago. It would have been far easier for her to go to Bloomington/Normal than up to Chicago and back repeatedly for classes. We are talking two hours round trip travel plus class time vs. 6 hours roundtrip travel time plus class time for each day of classes.
The mystery seems to be how she got the credits from Roosevelt University and how then ISU issued a degree of “superintendent’s endorsement” to her when she took no courses there. The links in this chain don’t seem to measure up.
Calling all investigators.
“Kay Royster, who, I assume you, did not lose her job because of Alicia Butler’s resume.”
So is it your position that someone in a leadership position, who has a penchant for presenting grossly fraudulent credentials, should be involved in the hiring, firing and performance evaluation of major personnel?
Oh, I don’t disagree with that part! I would have fired off requests to Duke and ND’s registrars via the web page where you can request transcripts and probably paid the $10 for expedited delivery. Probably registered copies direct to the PJS so nobody could even accuse me of doctoring them.
I’m just finding the diploma-on-the-wall part amusing. Apparently there’s a sort of cultural divide between folks who have diplomas on the wall and can’t IMAGINE anybody wouldn’t, and folks who don’t have diplomas on the wall and can’t IMAGINE anybody would!
Frankly at this point if I were her (and still had my personal laissez faire attitude towards diplomas) I would have ransacked my spare room to find the physical pieces of paper (and pieces of dead sheep) had I not yet been able to produce a transcript.
I’m just amused by the insistence and counter-insistence about where “everyone” keeps their diplomas and how quickly they can produce them. Just a sidelight that has kept me amused. Nothing whatever to do with the main point of the story.
Spotlight — does Roosevelt have an online program? (I don’t really know how these endorsements work but that was the first thing that occurred to me. Although transferring it to ISU is still weird.)
I’m not defending resume padding, or claiming degrees that were not earned. My position has been fairly clear:
1. I think Alicia Butler has been a fine school board member.
2. Butler and BU (and now some of her previous employers) have make different claims as to the accuracy of Butler’s resume.
3. While it’s entirely possible Butler is right and the others are wrong, it doesn’t look good for Butler.
4. The onus is now on Butler to verify the accuracy of her resume.
I intend to give Alicia more time to provide this verification (more time than some of my readers would prefer it seems) before I come to any other conclusions.
Am I cutting her more slack than I would most other elected officials? Yes. Deal with it.
At least you’re honest when you’re shilling for a preferred candidate!
I like how you say “different claims” like its a minor deviation in two positions. She and Bradley (and her prior employers) are at the opposite ends of the spectrum on the issue. It’s a question of black or white….not “what shade of gray”.
It’s also entirely possible her word isn’t worth the breath it takes to get it out of her mouth. Character and integrity are built on actions and honesty not on words. She far she’s done more to lower her C.I. (character integrity) quotient than anything anyone else has done.
You’ve at least put the onus where it belongs.