Former Alderman and mayoral candidate Bob Fioretti’s personal bio states that he is an adjunct professor at Northern Illinois University (NIU) Law school. Turns out that’s not quite true.
Fioretti’s bio includes the line:
He earned his law degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law, where he remains a member of the adjunct faculty.
This can be found on his campaign web site, his law firm’s web site, his Facebook profile, his LinkedIn profile, Wikipedia, and many other sources.
Yet the NIU Law School faculty directory does not list Fioretti’s name.
Employment records provided by NIU in response to a Freedom of Information request show that Fioretti was hired to teach a class on State and Local Government for a four month period in the Spring of 2000. For this he was paid a $2,000 honorarium and reimbursed for travel expenses.
In other words, Fioretti taught a single class at NIU 16 years ago, and based on that is claiming that he “remains” a professor today.
Fioretti is challenging State Sen. Patricia Van Pelt in the Democratic primary for the 5th district in the primary election next Tuesday.
Fioretti is not the only Illinois politician in hot water for stretching (falsifying?) the truth about his past. Downstate Sen. Sam McCann (R-Jacksonville) is trying to survive his claims of having been a member of the Marine Corps and receiving an Honorable Discharge, despite no records or documentation backing up that claim.
Disclosure: Jonathan Goldman is president of Advocacy Incorporated, which provides consulting services to Friends of Patricia Van Pelt.
