Why Transparency is Important

The Lake Forest Caucus sent out a press release yesterday (2013_04-04_Lake Forest Caucus Press Release) in response to my public statements about my concerns regarding Steve Reimer’s conflict of interest.  Even though I sent them a copy of my letter, they failed to return the courtesy and I only learned of their testy response from a friend.  I guess I really hit a nerve.

When I spoke with Gary Peet on Tuesday evening about my concerns he said respectfully that I was entitled to my opinion.  Based on the tone of the press release, I guess what he meant was that I’m entitled to my opinion as long as I keep it to myself.

The press release suggests that my public comments are politically motivated and that I have chosen to ignore facts.  It even suggests that the comments represent personal attacks.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

While I am supporting a specific candidate for District 115 School Board, nothing has been stopping me, up until now, from also voting from Mr. Reimer.  But once I learned about Mrs. Reimer’s work as an independent contractor and how it was funded through the school, I had concerns about the ethics of the situation.  By my reading of the law and the Board Policy the situation looks like a conflict of interest and a violation of board policy, no doubt about it.  I’ve not chosen to ignore anything the Lake Forest Caucus or Mr. Reimer have shared with me; I just don’t agree with them.

The Lake Forest Caucus did their own research and found a 1997 opinion letter from a former Illinois Attorney General about an unrelated case and decided that it supported their position that there is no conflict of interest with Mr. Reimer.  I read the same letter and came to a different conclusion.  I think that Mr. Reimer has gotten bad advice from the Lake Forest Caucus and that they have put him in an untenable position.  I hope that Mr. Reimer has taken the opportunity to get his own separate legal opinion.  I know that he doesn’t want to be in violation of Board Policy or State law.

If the Lake Forest Caucus was the only entity vetting candidates then how would we be guaranteed transparency, how would the voters know about situations like this?  Happily we live in a free society where other citizens can look at the same “facts” as I have and come to their own conclusion and express concerns.

I have no axe to grind with the Caucus. It’s fine if they source volunteers to serve in public capacities. But I don’t believe that they should have 100% control over who gets to occupy public office in Lake Forest. One party systems don’t really work very well. In some instances they lead to abuses of the people, like in China and North Korea. In this country one party systems lead to complacent voters who don’t examine the candidates or think for themselves. I believe in open contested elections, and may the best man or woman win. Obviously the Lake Forest Caucus feels differently.

Mr. and Mrs. Reimer are both good citizens and I have nothing bad to say about either of them.  But in my opinion, their proposed respective positions at District 115 conflict with one another and are against Board Policy and State law.  For example, as Gary Peet conceded in our conversation, when the grant funding for Mrs. Reimer’s position dries up, Mr. Reimer would be in a position to influence whether the high school added the position back to its own budget. That’s a conflict of interest.  Now that I’ve made others aware of the situation, I hope that they will draw their own conclusions and express their own opinions.