Illinois park district director used taxpayer credit card for daughter's prom helicopter, invoice shows
The Markham Park District executive director caused quite the scene last weekend after hiring a helicopter for her daughter's prom send-off, which landed in a public park without proper authorization.
Now, there's new fallout about who paid for the stunt and how the city wants a restraining order to stop the spending.
There's a split reaction about this prom helicopter send-off, with some saying no one was harmed while others, including city leaders, say the park's director didn't have the right to authorize the photo op for her daughter—a photo shoot with at least the deposit charged to a credit card that taxpayers pay for.
Less than a week after this helicopter landed at a park, catching many by surprise, the stunt for the park director's daughter has turned political.
The Park District's executive director, Quintina Brown, told officers she had the OK for the helicopter landing, but city leaders never authorized the landing in the public park where children were playing. The pilot told officers that day he had approval to land, even presenting a signed notice by the park director herself to the questioning officer
The company later handed over an invoice to the city attorney. The receipt raises many deeper questions.
The bill was for a minimum of $800 for one hour. At the bottom, there's a credit card number linked to Brown. She named Markham Parks as the company and even used the address of the fieldhouse and provided her signature on a taxpayer-funded credit card.
"The plot thickens, as they say," said city attorney Burt Odelson.
He says there's no way Brown accidentally entered all that information by mistake. He also spoke with the helicopter company.
"They told me that the deposit was charged to the card, and they have not been successful in getting the remaining $800 off the card, for whatever reason," he said.
Using the park district credit card either to pay or hold the reservation is why Markham's mayor, Roger Agpawa, says residents should be concerned, asking why no one questioned the purchase.
In fact, the city started questioning the spending by the park district and its board in the fall of 2025.
CBS News Chicago reported when Brown was first caught on body cam getting served with an injunction. Leaders alleged she and the park board were not paying bills and left most parks with broken equipment and deplorable conditions.
"They've been landing helicopters in different ways over there," said Agpawa.
There's a line in the invoice that says every additional six minutes over the hour would be $80. It was learned that the helicopter was grounded for at least three hours.
Now the question is who will pay for the extra minutes and for the original booking? The company that booked it, Markham's Park District, which is funded by taxpayers, or Brown herself.
CBS News Chicago reached out to Brown about the matter, but has yet to hear back.