Why does a school official have a $2,000 flower bill?
Former Penn-Delco School Board VP John Green allegedly paid $1,961.95 to Blair’s Florist to cover expenses billed to his “personal account,” according to the criminal complaint.
The problem with covering the typical Penn-Delco School District scandal is that I run out of space in the newspaper. The latest arrest of former school-board vice president John Green this week was no different. I didn't have space to tell you about the flowers. That's what blogs are for.
Green, who is charged with stealing money from the Sun Valley Sportsters, a booster club for female athletes where he served as treasurer, had claimed that he was merely reimbursing himself for money he advanced to the club when he wrote checks from the club to his personal bank account. In some instances, that might be true. In others, it's clearly not, according to county detectives.
What I find interesting is that Green allegedly paid $1,961.95 to Blair's Florist to cover expenses billed to his "personal account," according to the criminal complaint. That's in addition to the Sportsters expenses. The club throws a banquet and awards ceremony for members at the end of the school year.
I'm not a forensic accountant, but does anyone else find it unusual that a school-board member would be purchasing $2,000 worth of flowers for personal reasons?
"That's an ongoing question we have. He had one of the largest floral bills that any of us has ever seen," said Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green (no relation to John Green). "We're not sure why he buys so many flowers, or did during that period."
Green, 48, of Brookhaven, didn't want to talk about flowers Monday, which is understandable. He was in handcuffs, perp-walking from the Media courthouse to a police car with TV cameras in his face. I gave his attorney, Michael F.X. Gillin, a chance to comment. He never called back.
Back in 2007, when I was grilling Green about his backdated financial-disclosure statements, he said, "My life is an open book," and vowed to answer all future questions. Months later, he pleaded no contest to a felony conflict-of-interest charge and stepped down from the school board. Last year, he was fined by the state Ethics Commission. I thought that was the end of the Book of Green. I was wrong.
I'm going to get to the bottom of this flower-bill mystery. In the meantime, all theories are welcome.