Friday, June 5, 2009

War of words in Carol Stream library race

War of words in Carol Stream library race
Originally published Friday, March 27, 2009

By Nadia Malik
Daily Herald Staff Writer

The signs make it clear where the challenging candidates stand: "Stop library referendums and taxes."
The incumbents, and the Carol Stream library staff, think that's unfair and misleading. They've prepared their own counter document: a one-page flyer, passed out to library patrons, giving their response to allegations that they're plotting to raise taxes to build a new library.
The race for four seats on the Carol Stream library board has evolved into a war of written words.
The challenging slate has put up the red, "stop referendums" placards, which are plentiful in the area surrounding the library. Library patrons, in turn, have been asking librarians about the possibility of a ballot question. So the library, in turn, is handing out a "facts about the library" sheet to all patrons that outlines past referendum questions and issues on property taxes. The sheet can also be viewed at cslibrary.org.
"I was glad to see that because there really isn't a way to tell people that the information that they're seeing is not correct," incumbent Mary Hudspeath said.
But the fact sheet has raised the eyebrows of challengers because it supports the ideals of the incumbents even though it does not endorse anyone.
"It's obviously geared toward trying to support the incumbents," challenger Michael Wade said. "In fact, I lodged a complaint with the board of elections. It's illegal for (the library) to campaign."
However, the sitting board members said the idea for the flyer came from library Director Ann Kennedy and not from anyone running in the election.
"We ran it through our attorneys," incumbent Robert Douglas said. "It was done by the library because of the misinformation that has been circulated around the village. It's just simply facts about the library."
Ken Menzel, legal counsel for the Illinois state board of elections, said state law about using tax money for election materials is pretty clear. It says, "No public funds shall be used to urge any elector to vote for or against any candidate or position, or be appropriated for political or campaign purposes to any candidate or political organization."
When school districts ask for more money, Menzel said, it's OK for them to pass out fliers that explain what that bond money will be used for and discuss the district's financial situation, Menzel said.
"They cannot say, 'Please get out and vote yes on our bond referendum,'" he said.
He acknowledged, though, there's always room for argument.
"There's something of a gray, no man's land in that," Menzel said. "It's not uncommon for people to complain that something is slanted."
Incumbents say the library fler was prompted by other details released by the challengers. They've said, for example, that the library is looking to hire an executive director even though it already has a director.
That, according to Douglas, actually was a discussion about the potential hiring of an executive director for the DuPage Library System, part of a report at the library board's March 18 meeting.
But Wade said that's not what he heard.
"What I heard was that Ann Kennedy said they will have candidates for an executive director's position by August," he said.
Incumbent Tom Arends said misunderstandings like this come up, but he wishes the challengers would address them with the board first before airing them in public as fact.
"It is important that they ask us these questions," Arends said. "It's a lack of communication. Just the fact that it gets sent out as a statement of fact is the misinformation."
The issue of Kennedy's salary has also come up, with claims that it's the highest in the area, especially compared to Wheaton. However, the latest survey of local libraries from 2008 shows Kennedy's salary at $98,800, and the director of the Wheaton library at $116,298.
Another argument by the challengers is that Carol Stream spends more money per capita than the larger Wheaton. The library's own data supports that, showing that Carol Stream spends $98.85 per person, with a budget of about $4 million and close to 41,000 residents in town. Wheaton has 55,416 residents, a budget of about $4.2 million and spends $76.86 per resident.
However, smaller libraries, such as Glen Ellyn and Geneva, spend more per capita than Carol Stream.
Candidate David DeRango said the challengers are trying to show that the library is not being transparent.
"We have one of the highest payrolls in the area," he said. "That's not misleading. The numbers are there."
Challenger Dominick Jeffrey said putting out the idea of a referendum is also more than warranted because the library has had three rejected in the past, and the board could decide to have one at any time.
"Just because they're not running one this year is not misleading," he said.
Leslie Shambo, an incumbent, said that the board has insists a referendum will not be slated for many years, so it's not fair for that idea to be thrown out.
"I've seen a lot of misconstrued facts," she said.

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