Election Interference?
- on 02.27.06
- Winthrop Harbor
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In response to my post about “Who really paid for the Emergency Referendum?â€, the following response was placed on the GoFlo website, Winthrop Harbor Schools, page 157.
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Guest Posted: Feb. 25 2006,10:24 Of course D1 paid for the election because it is the governmental entity that must pay for the costs. But, unlike the Beach Park Fire Protection District’s emergency referendum (which cost $8,600), the taxpayers of D1 did not foot ANY PART of the bill. Instead, from the beginning of the D1 emergency referendum campaign, the administration and school board made it clear to the public that the district would raise all of the money it needed to pay for the election. This was all detailed in both newpapers at the time. You may recall that D1 held a “Mega Event” with carnival games and food for the whole community which netted $4,700. D1 also received a donation from the local Rotary Club for $500 for the election, thus making the total available to pay for the special election through donations and fundraising efforts alone: $5,200 — slightly more than was needed to pay ALL election charges at no cost to local taxpayers. Please remove the misleading and incorrect data from your website. |
This new information was rather interesting in itself. Instead of answering questions it brought up more. This poster is claiming that District 1 held events to raise the money. This again was in spite of the fact that school districts are not supposed to take donations except from Education Foundations. What, if any, laws did the District violate with these events?
Let’s look deeper. As I pointed out in my previous post, it was stated that Citizens for Quality Schools was going to pay for the referendum.
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The referendum comittee, who are funding the election, are called the “Citizens for Quality Schoolsâ€. It’s members (parents) have written letters to the local papers, attendend recent school board meetings, and village board meetings. Their website is whsd1voteyes.org. |
Now, looking at the Citizens for Quality Schools, hereby known as C4QS, disclosure forms (Schedule B Page 1, Schedule B Page 2) you will see that this group paid for the planning of the events and materials. There is no listing for a payment to the school for using their facilities. This again is a discrepancy by those claiming the school held the events.
Has anyone heard of election interference? The basics are school districts cannot spend money or promote a Yes vote in any way. This includes contributions of time or materials paid for by the taxpayers. They can only present facts. Follow this link if you want to read the entire law. You can read further about the Ethics Codes at the Attorney Generals website.
I have many questions about this.
- Did the district break any laws by accepting monetary donations directly from the public and not from an education foundation?
- Did the district break any laws by providing school grounds for “Mega Events†without any facilities reimbursement to the C4QS group supporting a Yes vote?
- Did the district provide any paid staff to the events such as for setup, cleanup, etc. of these events?
I’m sure the State’s Attorney may have several more questions.
You might be asking yourself, what difference this makes if it was one-time event? If taxpayer money was used in the solicitation of a Yes vote, then someone broke the law. Secondly, this is not the first time the district has done this.
To refresh your memory, last spring the PTA donated $3114.92 to the C4QS group. I have been given more information about where this money came from that was donated. The money came from the District held Friday night “Fun Fests”. Here is the exchange below with a member of the PTA/PTO in Winthrop Harbor (See comments 6-8, emphasis mine):
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In response to recent findings from this website, The Winthrop Harbor PTA/PTO would like to respond. The Winthrop Harbor School District hosted a series of fundraisers referred to as “Friday Night Fun Fests”, in which all three schools participated. At the time that these fundraisers were held, it was indicated to the Winthrop Harbor PTA/PTO that there was not a separate bank account to hold the money collected. Therefore, it was strongly encouraged that the profits from these “fun fests” be deposited in the Winthrop Harbor PTA/PTO checking account. That said, the money collected at these events was then presented to the Winthrop Harbor PTA/PTO by the school district and the PTA/PTO subsequently wrote a check for the exact amount for deposit to: The Citizen’s for Quality Schools. No funds that have been raised through or by the current PTA/PTO board and chairpersons were rendered towards the support of the referendum, nor were these events sponsored by the Winthrop Harbor PTA/PTO, financially or otherwise. Furthermore, to avoid any future confusion, the Winthrop Harbor PTA/PTO is proposing an addendum to our by-laws stating that the PTA/PTO will no longer assist other club (s), groups, etc. with their respective financial matters, i.e., holding funds. If anyone has any further questions regarding this transaction, please feel free to attend our meetings. Our meeting dates are posted on the Winthrop Harbor School District website. Thank you, The Winthrop Harbor PTA/PTO Board & Chairpersons Comment by Lorie — 2/22/2006 @ 2:33 pm | Edit This I would like to thank you for your response. I do strive to make sure the information I present is factual. I do not however, have control over what commenters say. In that regard, I have a few questions I would like clarification on. What group ran the Friday Fun Fests? It sounds like the District did from your response so I wanted to get accurate information. I have also heard a couple of other things I would like to have clarified. Did Dr. Tenbusch pressure the PTA in any way to help with this? I see you stated “strongly encouraged” in your response. Secondly, did the PTA disband and a new PTO group get formed after this incident? Comment by site admin — 2/22/2006 @ 11:27 pm | Edit This The PTA’s decision to convert to a PTO was for a number of reasons, none of which included the referendum, superintendent, or the school board. The Winthrop Harbor School District hosted the Friday Fun Fests, which were held at the schools. These events were not run by the PTA/PTO. For additional information, we suggest you contact the school (s). Pressure is a strong word, members of the board were encouraged prior to a meeting to assist in this matter. It is customary for the PTA/PTO to vote on important issues, such as this. Therefore, it was presented for vote, as customary, and the vote passed. We hope this clarifies any still outstanding questions. Winthrop Harbor PTA/PTO Board & Chairpersons Comment by Lorie — 2/24/2006 @ 10:34 am |
This information is more disturbing to me than the Mega Events. It appears from this information that the School District used the PTA to launder filter the money raised to support a Yes vote. If this is true, this is despicable behavior and should not be tolerated in Winthrop Harbor Schools.
I do owe an apology to the PTA with my insuations last fall that they raised money to help support the Yes vote, for that I am sorry. I wish this information had been available sooner so it could have been corrercted and the blame placed on the proper people.
- Who “strongly encouraged†the PTA to filter the money through their organization?
- Did this person break any laws by filtering the money through the PTA?
- Did the district break any laws by running events they knew were benefiting a Yes vote organization?
- Did the district break any laws by providing school grounds for “Friday Night Fun Fests�
- Did the district provide any paid staff to these events?
This behavior is intolerable if true. Whoever used the strong arm tactics to get the PTA to be in the middle of this activity should be fired immediately. This is not behavior that befitting school personal or administration. I am sure this information will garner even more questions from the State’s Attorney.
“I do owe an apology to the PTA with my insuations last fall that they raised money to help support the Yes vote, for that I am sorry. I wish this information had been available sooner so it could have been corrercted and the blame placed on the proper people.”
So, was that your “logic” at work last fall”
I used the information at hand. It was written information. Again, if you cared to provide written proof, you might get the same response.
You should be careful not to believe everything you read, sir – or write for that matter; especially when you have so little of the information.
I’ll egarly await your apology to the kind folks here at home. When its logical, that is.
Hi,
You said, “You should be careful not to believe everything you read, sir”.
Does that include you?
Provide the proof.
You keep mentioning the State’s Attorney. Have you notified them or is that a veiled threat?
Why is this important to you, Joe?
Why is it important to you, Lisa, why it is important to me? It’s a question. How about an answer.
Joe said, “Why is it important to you, Lisa, why it is important to me?”
I’m not sure how to read your question. Was it a language/typographical error?
It’s clear that it is a question and that you want an answer. I will be glad to give you an answer if I could please understand what you are asking. But first, you need to answer the question that I asked you. Again… why is this important to you, Joe?
Joe seemed pretty strait forward…
“You keep mentioning the State’s Attorney. Have you notified them or is that a veiled threat?”
Why does he have to be pre-qualified to get your answer? Do you have an answer?
Again… Joe said (not Hi), “Why is it important to you, Lisa, why it is important to me?â€
I’m not sure how to read your question. Was it a language/typographical error?
It’s clear that it is a question and that you want an answer. I will be glad to give you an answer if I could please understand what you are asking. But first, you need to answer the question that I asked you. Again… why is this important to you, Joe?
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And now, Hi, I will ask you too… why is this important to you?
As for this question, “You keep mentioning the State’s Attorney. Have you notified them or is that a veiled threat?  why do “either” of you NEED to know anything when it concerns our personal affairs? Your question is inappropriate and you know it.
When you want to have a real debate and choose not to try to harass us on OUR Blog, let me know.
So, what you mean is,
None of your business, Joe!”
That,s OK…just say what you mean. I’m satisfied. How about you, Joe?
It is being handled appropriately by the residents of Wintrhop Harbor…
I have been dealing with this and not Lisa. She didn’t know the status when she replied to you.
[...] Also don’t forget what District 1 in Winthrop Harbor is doing: [...]
[...] I do know there was some questionable practices by the PTA in Winthrop Harbor last spring. They actually changed to a PTO after this incident from my information. [...]