Post by Arch on Apr 2, 2009 23:09:53 GMT -6
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1509010,Naperville-slate-hidden-agenda_na040209.article
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April 2, 2009
By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com
Most of the candidates running for election to Naperville's school boards are asking residents to vote for them as individuals.
But four of the 23 are campaigning together.
Collectively known as 204 Taxpayers for Excellence, they are Eric Hepburn, Don Moscato, Jerry Huang and Doug DiFusco.
And, because they combine to create a bigger target, they are, of course, coming under more fire than most school board candidates.
"They say we have a hidden agenda," DiFusco said. "That's the big scare tactic. We have no hidden agenda."
In fact, claimed Moscato, no other candidates have worked as hard to communicate their ideas to voters.
"We have let people understand what our backgrounds are, where we come from, and what we're really all about, which is helping this community," Moscato said. "No one can say we're sitting in the background with some of the stuff that people are saying."
Most recently, the slate has faced criticism for the endorsements it has received, and the money and mailers that are tied to them.
The slate has been endorsed by the Civic Coalition for Aurora and Naperville, which has campaigned on behalf of these four candidates, distributing sharply designed, full-color mailers to residents. Those mailers urge residents to vote for Hepburn, Moscato, DiFusco and Huang "Because you can't always be there ..." or because "It shouldn't take a Freedom of Information Act request."
Some in the blogosphere have found rich irony in that "Freedom of Information Act" reference.
Ties that bind
The slate's Web site, www.204taxpayers.org, prominently lists endorsements from the coalition as well as the Indian Prairie Education Association, which is District 204's teachers' union, and the Indian Prairie Classified Association, the union representing the district's support staff.
But the site doesn't explain the financial ties binding all of these groups.
According to state records, the coalition, which is campaigning for the slate, is funded by donations of $32,450 from the IPEA's political action committee and $5,000 from the IPCA. Both of these labor unions will be negotiating new contracts with the District 204 board next year.
Some are insinuating that these sizeable donations will make this would-be board majority beholden to these labor unions when they begin to bargain new deals next year.
They see it differently.
'We were clear in the endorsement process," Huang said. "We didn't promise anything to the teachers, and they didn't promise anything to us."
Huang said many people think teachers are only interested in making more money, but, he said, they're "key stakeholders" who, like the members or the slate, are concerned about curriculum and class sizes, and want to improve communication and ensure fiscal responsibility.
"These are all things the community members and the teachers have in common," Huang said, "and I think people are sort of overlooking that and thinking this is all just some nefarious plot intended to give teachers more money."
'Not beholden'
Hepburn noted that the slate didn't seek the money ? the unions chose to provide it, and did so without asking for any "favors." And, he added, made it clear throughout the endorsement process that "hard decisions will have to be made," and that he will make them based upon "what is right for the community."
"I don't feel beholden to them at all," Hepburn said.
Similarly, Hepburn combatted concerns of "group think" ruling the board if the slate is elected by claiming the members of the slate don't feel beholden to each other, either. They're running together because they have similar backgrounds in business, and they are interested in bringing the same kind of change to the district.
"I think what's really at the core of it is that, from a conceptual standpoint, we aren't used to people being a team. We aren't used to people trying to attack a problem as a team," Hepburn said. "I think that's one of the big knocks on us, though. Everybody thinks we're going to be the rubber stamp for this or for that, and that we're always going to agree. We're not."
Still, stressed DiFusco, they're committed to teamwork.
"Isn't the school board a seven- or and eight-person team? The seven board members and the superintendent?" he asked. "But it appears to me as an outsider watching the process that's not how it functions.
"And let's be honest," he continued. "We are in the middle of an economic crisis that is going to impact the school district, and there is no way around it. You better have people who are committed to working as a team. Otherwise, there's not going to be a vision."
Other candidates in the District 204 school board race are incumbents Cathy Piehl and Chris Vickers, and challengers Michael Strick, Mark Rising, Janey Wagner, Yuming Huang, Dawn DeSart, Susan Rasmus and Michael Crockett, whose name remains on the ballot even though he has pulled out of the campaign.
=================
April 2, 2009
By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com
Most of the candidates running for election to Naperville's school boards are asking residents to vote for them as individuals.
But four of the 23 are campaigning together.
Collectively known as 204 Taxpayers for Excellence, they are Eric Hepburn, Don Moscato, Jerry Huang and Doug DiFusco.
And, because they combine to create a bigger target, they are, of course, coming under more fire than most school board candidates.
"They say we have a hidden agenda," DiFusco said. "That's the big scare tactic. We have no hidden agenda."
In fact, claimed Moscato, no other candidates have worked as hard to communicate their ideas to voters.
"We have let people understand what our backgrounds are, where we come from, and what we're really all about, which is helping this community," Moscato said. "No one can say we're sitting in the background with some of the stuff that people are saying."
Most recently, the slate has faced criticism for the endorsements it has received, and the money and mailers that are tied to them.
The slate has been endorsed by the Civic Coalition for Aurora and Naperville, which has campaigned on behalf of these four candidates, distributing sharply designed, full-color mailers to residents. Those mailers urge residents to vote for Hepburn, Moscato, DiFusco and Huang "Because you can't always be there ..." or because "It shouldn't take a Freedom of Information Act request."
Some in the blogosphere have found rich irony in that "Freedom of Information Act" reference.
Ties that bind
The slate's Web site, www.204taxpayers.org, prominently lists endorsements from the coalition as well as the Indian Prairie Education Association, which is District 204's teachers' union, and the Indian Prairie Classified Association, the union representing the district's support staff.
But the site doesn't explain the financial ties binding all of these groups.
According to state records, the coalition, which is campaigning for the slate, is funded by donations of $32,450 from the IPEA's political action committee and $5,000 from the IPCA. Both of these labor unions will be negotiating new contracts with the District 204 board next year.
Some are insinuating that these sizeable donations will make this would-be board majority beholden to these labor unions when they begin to bargain new deals next year.
They see it differently.
'We were clear in the endorsement process," Huang said. "We didn't promise anything to the teachers, and they didn't promise anything to us."
Huang said many people think teachers are only interested in making more money, but, he said, they're "key stakeholders" who, like the members or the slate, are concerned about curriculum and class sizes, and want to improve communication and ensure fiscal responsibility.
"These are all things the community members and the teachers have in common," Huang said, "and I think people are sort of overlooking that and thinking this is all just some nefarious plot intended to give teachers more money."
'Not beholden'
Hepburn noted that the slate didn't seek the money ? the unions chose to provide it, and did so without asking for any "favors." And, he added, made it clear throughout the endorsement process that "hard decisions will have to be made," and that he will make them based upon "what is right for the community."
"I don't feel beholden to them at all," Hepburn said.
Similarly, Hepburn combatted concerns of "group think" ruling the board if the slate is elected by claiming the members of the slate don't feel beholden to each other, either. They're running together because they have similar backgrounds in business, and they are interested in bringing the same kind of change to the district.
"I think what's really at the core of it is that, from a conceptual standpoint, we aren't used to people being a team. We aren't used to people trying to attack a problem as a team," Hepburn said. "I think that's one of the big knocks on us, though. Everybody thinks we're going to be the rubber stamp for this or for that, and that we're always going to agree. We're not."
Still, stressed DiFusco, they're committed to teamwork.
"Isn't the school board a seven- or and eight-person team? The seven board members and the superintendent?" he asked. "But it appears to me as an outsider watching the process that's not how it functions.
"And let's be honest," he continued. "We are in the middle of an economic crisis that is going to impact the school district, and there is no way around it. You better have people who are committed to working as a team. Otherwise, there's not going to be a vision."
Other candidates in the District 204 school board race are incumbents Cathy Piehl and Chris Vickers, and challengers Michael Strick, Mark Rising, Janey Wagner, Yuming Huang, Dawn DeSart, Susan Rasmus and Michael Crockett, whose name remains on the ballot even though he has pulled out of the campaign.