Regulating Free Speech in Winthrop Harbor?
April 21, 2006 by admin
Filed under Winthrop Harbor
After another defeat this spring, Winthrop Harbor Supt. James Tenbusch is getting the Illinois State Board of Education to help find ways to regulate the free speech of the citizens who speak out against tax increases. Here is the quote from today’s Chicago Tribune.
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Tenbusch on Thursday accused some tax-increase opponents of making false claims about how an increase would affect property owners, prompting concern by state board chairman Jesse Ruiz. The chairman asked state board attorneys to look into how the state could regulate organizations making false claims. Such charges are not unique in the clash over school tax increases. |
After the March defeat, Tenbusch stated he would do everything he could to keep the district under local control.
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“We’re disappointed, naturally,” said Superintendent James Tenbusch. “Our main focus right now is to commit ourselves to attempting to maintain local control of our schools for as long as we can.” |
Now today it is:
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Winthrop Harbor Supt. James Tenbusch said he and a majority of board members support the state’s intervention |
That does not appear to be trying to keep local control. From the quotes that follow, it appears he is heading down the road of manipulation and threats again. Here are a few more quotes from the Chicago Tribune.
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The Illinois State Board of Education certified that the district is in “financial difficulty,” a status that allows state monitoring and could lead to even stronger oversight down the road. |
Sounds to me like another referendum is coming in November with more threats and information about the State takeover. I can hear it now, “Really, this is your final chance. The state really is going to take over this time. We’re not kidding.”
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Elsewhere in the state, opponents have claimed that ballot language is deceptive and fails to inform voters of the true cost of tax increases. |
This is exactly why there is an effort to change the language in the law. It is very deceptive and allow the districts to say one thing while legally do another. Here’s a link to the latest information on Glen Ellyn District 41. Here is an article I wrote about How Districts Overtax Their Residents. Of course, all of this information is exactly what districts define as false claims when clearly the ballot question is a problem not those opposing a tax increase.
I would think that to ask…
“…state board attorneys to look into how the state could regulate organizations making false claims.”
…would be a good thing. Why should an organization be permitted to publicly make a false claim without recourse? Are you suggesting that an organization should be permitted to make false claims unchecked?
What I am saying is that Winthrop Harbor and other districts are claiming that truthful claims are false. When referendum opponents explain how much a tax increase will really be, districts claim this is false. This regulation is seeking to silence any opposition to a referendum not stop false claims.
I’ve read the articles and can’t seem to find where it states that…
“This regulation is seeking to silence any opposition to a referendum not stop false claims.”
Have I missed something or is your statement simply misleading?
Julie, please apply some logic. If someone is telling the truth, and someone else is trying regulate speech so the truth cannot be told, then they are trying to suppress and silence those telling the truth.
There are already laws in place such as libel and slander to take care of false accusations. This is again a case of trying to silence opposition through regulations.
Sir, the logic is on the page. There is no other public statement indicating that the intent is to regulate “truth”. Only you have made that statement. The article indicates only an intent to regulate the dissemination of “false” claims.
While one might agree with your outrage, I think common sense should be insulted by your logic. Such regulation could certainly serve everyone’s best interest to provide the truth; regardless of their position on the issue.
Please follow the links to other articles provided. There have been mulitple threats of lawsuits, threats of fines for putting up Vote No signs. These have all come from those trying to pass the referendum in Winthrop Harbor. These threats were made against the referendum opponents who spoke up with accurate information, i.e. not false claims. There are many public statements by public officials, if you read the links, where they claim statements are false just to attempt to silence their critics. It was obvious to the voters in Winthrop Harbor that the threats were intimidation to silence the truth. It is the same with these regulations.
Logic and common sense will prevail here; so will the laws of free speech. A government authority should never be threatening to restrict the free speech of its citizens just because they don’t like the information being spoken. We all have the right to speak out and to share accurate information.