When 15 minus 4 equals more

Who knew there was so much math involved with being on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, or that being really bad at it was a job qualification. Kind of reminds us of those talking Barbie dolls that they yanked from the shelves when they whined: “Math is hard!”

Four of 15 board members have filed for bankruptcy. Not good at math.

Adam P. Monreal said he only made $38,673 when he was actually making $91,400 as chair of the board. Wow, was his math off. Had he gotten it right, he would have lost his house and not been qualified to escape his debts under Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

His math confusion extended to his state economic interest statement, where he lists more than $6,200 above his state salary in income and did so for five years. His salary plus anything would equal an amount greater than his salary. Again, had he gotten it right, he would have realized he was violating state law by making more than his state parole board salary.

Then there’s former Harrisburg mayor Eric E. Gregg, who was one of the four parole board members to file bankruptcy. His wasn’t exactly math confusion, just plain confusion.

Gregg said on his bankruptcy filing that he made $48,000 representing a national energy company. Then when a reporter asked his teacher’s aide wife, she said it was a mistake. She was really the energy company representative. Then confusion went further as he said in a deposition that his wife really was part of the bankruptcy, when initially she wasn’t.

Both men are being investigated by the governor’s office. Sounds like the feds also need to check to see whether anyone got things so wrong that it amounted to bankruptcy fraud.

The Prisoner Review Board decides whether some of our most dangerous criminals are ready to be released on society. The 15 people making those decisions should not be people easily tempted by financial gain, thus the law about no outside income. They also shouldn’t be political lackeys handed a state job as a sort of public welfare after they’ve wrecked their personal finances.

And they should pass a test — maybe math, maybe lie detector.

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "When 15 minus 4 equals more."