UPDATE--click here:
Unified School Board member Mark Hujik told the Kenosha News that the districts invested in bonds rated AA and AAA that would pay out at face value by December 2013. But upon closer examination, the school districts bought into much riskier credit default swaps that Wall Street has had to write down in value because many investors dumped the investments and there are no buyers, financial experts said.
This suggests that nobody was qualified or understood these investments, but apparently, we don't have the right to question according to a certain Board member's VOP. Sad and costly.
Click here.
As the value of the CDO continues to fall, it appears Kenosha Unified and the other four districts that bought into the plan didn't invest in bonds as they had thought, but instead purchased credit default swaps.
"We believe our role was essentially an adviser and placement agent," he added. "We may have helped, but these school districts represented themselves as sophisticated investors, that they understood what they were buying. I don't know what they were told because I wasn't there. I don't know what was orally represented. They are not bonds. I can tell you that is in the written documents they got at closing and these papers were vetted at all levels of management."
Eric Olson's recent VOP says we are OK. I sure hope he's right.
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9 comments:
Here's a quote I don't care for:
Johnston declined to give the name of the company but said a report is due by the first week of August.
Why?
I think Johnson should be terminated and Hujik should be recalled.
Until people start caring about the school board elections....the KEA and it's supporters will continue to dictate members and policy.
Absolutely correct!
I say start with Johnson & Hujik.
Then start on the others to send a message. They all signed on and ignorance is not an excuse. It seens that the Plesent Prairie are expressing concern why shouldn't the rest of us?
For a Boardo of ELECTED PUBLIC officials, their conduct on this particular matter has much to be desired. Someone needs to step up and say, "this was my decision and in retrospect, it wasn't very good". At least we can then move on as everyone makes mistakes. Just stop trying to downplay this very serious matter. I gaurantee that if taxpayers take a hit, it will get even more ugly and will probably lead to more than just the Board suing.
No need for anonymous comments. We are all adults.
I love the fact that Olson basically stated 2 wrongs make a right. People (he specifically mentioned PP) weren't worried before (shame on us), and are now....1st wrong. Now that we are, we shouldn't be allowed to be....2nd wrong.
He's got an interesting take, especially considering he's an elected official.
I guess you don't understand that I posted a comment anonymously because I have way to much to lose (like a career - I need a paycheck to survice). If you don't want an anonymous comments it's ok.
If you really feel your job is in jeapardy, then by all means continue to be anonymous.
Interesting tidbit: According to http://www.kenoshaarea.com/employerprofile/index.htm, KUSD was the biggest employer in the county in 2003. I'm not sure what their #'s look like now, but YES the KEA is a huge force in this county.
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