Tuesday, November 28, 2006
District 300 Tax Hike Committee Web Site Be Done Gone
The money has been committed to massive pay hikes for teachers and administrators in Carpentersville’s School District 300, but the district tax hike committee web site has disappeared.Advance 300 appears to have over $42,000 in the bank, but it cannot afford to keep its web site up.
Very interesting.
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I can quote because I kept all the literature they mailed out. Last we heard, they will be using their resources, perhaps changing their name, and lobbying downstate for change in the way we fund schools. But this was shortly after the referenda passed.
The $42,000 Cal mentions? It's about $10,000 shy of "Core P.O. Box 1132 Dundee, IL 60118 $52,516.04, 4/27/2004 Transfer In
Advance 300" (Advance 300
D-2 Semiannual Report
1/1/2004 to 6/30/2004 per Election site).
That $52,plus - gave a considerable boost to the $9,783.96 "Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period" for Advance (under its latest name). A friend suggested it was some type of seed money to encourage further donations by developers.
CORE previously evolved into another name ....which is doing its thing to access more state funding (I don't know why we call it state funding - it comes out of taxpayers' pockets no matter what label you put on it.) Seems to me several of the D300 board members are/were also "team" members for the new and/or old CORE.
I wonder if the money left over in Advance ? formerly Schools Now is simply finding its way "home" again?
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"Gobble, Gobble, Gobble Taxpayers, be afraid, be very afraid." Did anyone beside me notice that none of the so-called grass roots tax increase PACs or their other tax pushers EVER talk about making the school industry more efficient and less expensive?
There are NO questions about spending from them? (Just "Feed me. Feed me." ala the carnivorous plant in the "The Little Shop of Horrors" movie...now there's a case of fertilizer for you.)
-------------
The public should be aware that some PACs drop their state registered status of being a political action committee and simply become committees. They "become" the PTAs, etc. and work in what some consider a stealth manner to further their agendas.
It's probably especially helpful to disassociate yourself from a PAC that is known for pushing a fiasco tax referendum or for helping to give a lot of that money away in raises the public finds disgusting. Residents listen to "friends". And the game continues.
-----------
Note to self for January 1st resolutions: Teach overtaxed taxpayers to pick better "friends" and to learn the difference between business and bulloney.
Advance 300" (Advance 300
D-2 Semiannual Report
1/1/2004 to 6/30/2004 per Election site).
That $52,plus - gave a considerable boost to the $9,783.96 "Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period" for Advance (under its latest name). A friend suggested it was some type of seed money to encourage further donations by developers.
CORE previously evolved into another name ....which is doing its thing to access more state funding (I don't know why we call it state funding - it comes out of taxpayers' pockets no matter what label you put on it.) Seems to me several of the D300 board members are/were also "team" members for the new and/or old CORE.
I wonder if the money left over in Advance ? formerly Schools Now is simply finding its way "home" again?
-------------
"Gobble, Gobble, Gobble Taxpayers, be afraid, be very afraid." Did anyone beside me notice that none of the so-called grass roots tax increase PACs or their other tax pushers EVER talk about making the school industry more efficient and less expensive?
There are NO questions about spending from them? (Just "Feed me. Feed me." ala the carnivorous plant in the "The Little Shop of Horrors" movie...now there's a case of fertilizer for you.)
-------------
The public should be aware that some PACs drop their state registered status of being a political action committee and simply become committees. They "become" the PTAs, etc. and work in what some consider a stealth manner to further their agendas.
It's probably especially helpful to disassociate yourself from a PAC that is known for pushing a fiasco tax referendum or for helping to give a lot of that money away in raises the public finds disgusting. Residents listen to "friends". And the game continues.
-----------
Note to self for January 1st resolutions: Teach overtaxed taxpayers to pick better "friends" and to learn the difference between business and bulloney.
If I remeber correctly, what is Advance 300 now was something else for the previous referendum fight in D300. So they must believe in doing a make over before each fight!
And remember, it's ok if they don't exist, it means Comrade Arndt isn't going after your wallet at that time! It's when they re-appear you have to worry!
It's for the Kids (and the teachers, administrators, Comrade Arndt, Ms. Crates, etc...)
And remember, it's ok if they don't exist, it means Comrade Arndt isn't going after your wallet at that time! It's when they re-appear you have to worry!
It's for the Kids (and the teachers, administrators, Comrade Arndt, Ms. Crates, etc...)
Advance300 morphed out of a group called Schools Now, that was set up by Adam Gypalo in 2000. Interestingly, another Gypalo was running for McHenry County board, and yet another Gypalo is (or was) a teacher in D-300 that earned $123,833 in 2005, according to thechampion.
Following is some other stuff I pulled together back in February while trying to follow the money in the D-300 campaign. If anyone wants the powerpoint slide that goes along with this, let me know.
=====
So who is supporting this referendum? Who wants to raise taxes, and who benefits?
1. It starts with District 300.
2. Where does District 300 get its money? From the taxpayers.
3. What does District 300 do with its money? It spends it on building schools, for example on the architect that refers to himself as a philanthropist, Charles Burnidge. It spends it on a financial advisor and money manager, in this case PMA Financial, which coincidentally employs as a senior vice president a D-300 board member who recently resigned her seat. There would also be a large line to district employees, which is where the majority of D-300's money goes, but this slide will get a little to busy for that.
4. One group that has supported past D-300 referendums is Citizens Organized for Responsible Education, or CORE. CORE was an active Political Action Committee from 1993 through 2004. In 2004, the PAC was closed, and CORE's principals expanded into a statewide school funding reform advocacy group called CORE 4 Kids. Listed among the CORE 4 Kids board are three District 300 board members.
5. The group most prominently advocating yes votes on the two current tax increases is Advance 300. Advance 300 was created as Schools Now for District 300 in 2000, by a gentleman with the same last name as a six-figure D-300 employee. His term expired last month, and he was replaced by another gentleman with the same last name as a well-payed D-300 employee.
6. What does Advance 300 spend its money on? Between 2000 and 2005, it has spent over $100,000 on Unicom-Arc, a public relations firm from St. Louis that specializes in tax hike support campaigns. One of the tools Unicom-Arc uses is the Delphi Technique, an old method used to get a large group of people to agree on something, and discredit people who disagreed. On its web site, Unicom-Arc brags about helping D-300 form the Facility Advisory Committee for Education or FACE. Although it sounds like the district connecting with the community to get input on buildings, it was really a tax hike support effort. One has to ask whether district funds were spent on FACE. Let me note that most data on this slide comes from the Campaign Disclosure section of the Illinois State Board of Elections web site.
7. Late last year, Advance 300 spent $6,750 on a company in Algonquin called Campaign Solutions for "Referendum Consulting". As it turns out, the principal of Campaign Solutions is one Cheryl Meyer, who led a group that urged residents to pass a referendum in Huntley District 158 that completely misled voters and resulted in the firing and early departure of the superintendent and CFO. Is she using the same tactics on the District 300 voters?
8. When CORE disbanded its PAC in 2004, it gave $10,000 to the Center for Tax. It's supposed to be the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, but in this center, there is no accountability. CTBA is led by Ralph Martire, who authored a bill designed to raise taxes in Illinois by $5 billion. CORE also seeded Schools Now / Advance 300 with over $50,000.
9. Where did CORE get its money? $5,000 in 2003 from BCA, our philanthropic architect. And $2,500 from homebuilder Orleans. In the campaign disclosures, there are companies called Realen and Relan, both with the same address in Inverness.
10. Where did Schools Now / Advance 300 get its money, besides the $50,000 from CORE? $24,000 from the local teacher union, which would be expected, as this group would be a significant beneficiary of any influx of cash into the district.
11. $57,000 from two homebuilders between 2000 and 2003. There are actually several additional homebuilders that contributed to Schools Now / Advance 300, but there wasn't enough room to show them here.
12. Look at this, $15,000 from our philanthropic developer, BCA; and $250 from District's 300 financial advisor and money manager, PMA Financial.
13. Also in 2002, Schools Now received $250 from then and now sitting board member Mary Warren (employed as a public school teacher in another district), and $300 from none other than superintendent Ken Arndt. So a board member who is also in the state teacher union and the superintendent were overtly supporting a tax increase for District 300. Does this seem right?
14. I step back and look at this. I look at all the people and groups that benefit from a passed referendum. I can't help but ask if this is really for the kids? Sure, they benefit because the board won't execute its heinous and unnecessary plans for a failed referendum. But with all the other beneficiaries, what priority is placed on the kids?
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Following is some other stuff I pulled together back in February while trying to follow the money in the D-300 campaign. If anyone wants the powerpoint slide that goes along with this, let me know.
=====
So who is supporting this referendum? Who wants to raise taxes, and who benefits?
1. It starts with District 300.
2. Where does District 300 get its money? From the taxpayers.
3. What does District 300 do with its money? It spends it on building schools, for example on the architect that refers to himself as a philanthropist, Charles Burnidge. It spends it on a financial advisor and money manager, in this case PMA Financial, which coincidentally employs as a senior vice president a D-300 board member who recently resigned her seat. There would also be a large line to district employees, which is where the majority of D-300's money goes, but this slide will get a little to busy for that.
4. One group that has supported past D-300 referendums is Citizens Organized for Responsible Education, or CORE. CORE was an active Political Action Committee from 1993 through 2004. In 2004, the PAC was closed, and CORE's principals expanded into a statewide school funding reform advocacy group called CORE 4 Kids. Listed among the CORE 4 Kids board are three District 300 board members.
5. The group most prominently advocating yes votes on the two current tax increases is Advance 300. Advance 300 was created as Schools Now for District 300 in 2000, by a gentleman with the same last name as a six-figure D-300 employee. His term expired last month, and he was replaced by another gentleman with the same last name as a well-payed D-300 employee.
6. What does Advance 300 spend its money on? Between 2000 and 2005, it has spent over $100,000 on Unicom-Arc, a public relations firm from St. Louis that specializes in tax hike support campaigns. One of the tools Unicom-Arc uses is the Delphi Technique, an old method used to get a large group of people to agree on something, and discredit people who disagreed. On its web site, Unicom-Arc brags about helping D-300 form the Facility Advisory Committee for Education or FACE. Although it sounds like the district connecting with the community to get input on buildings, it was really a tax hike support effort. One has to ask whether district funds were spent on FACE. Let me note that most data on this slide comes from the Campaign Disclosure section of the Illinois State Board of Elections web site.
7. Late last year, Advance 300 spent $6,750 on a company in Algonquin called Campaign Solutions for "Referendum Consulting". As it turns out, the principal of Campaign Solutions is one Cheryl Meyer, who led a group that urged residents to pass a referendum in Huntley District 158 that completely misled voters and resulted in the firing and early departure of the superintendent and CFO. Is she using the same tactics on the District 300 voters?
8. When CORE disbanded its PAC in 2004, it gave $10,000 to the Center for Tax. It's supposed to be the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, but in this center, there is no accountability. CTBA is led by Ralph Martire, who authored a bill designed to raise taxes in Illinois by $5 billion. CORE also seeded Schools Now / Advance 300 with over $50,000.
9. Where did CORE get its money? $5,000 in 2003 from BCA, our philanthropic architect. And $2,500 from homebuilder Orleans. In the campaign disclosures, there are companies called Realen and Relan, both with the same address in Inverness.
10. Where did Schools Now / Advance 300 get its money, besides the $50,000 from CORE? $24,000 from the local teacher union, which would be expected, as this group would be a significant beneficiary of any influx of cash into the district.
11. $57,000 from two homebuilders between 2000 and 2003. There are actually several additional homebuilders that contributed to Schools Now / Advance 300, but there wasn't enough room to show them here.
12. Look at this, $15,000 from our philanthropic developer, BCA; and $250 from District's 300 financial advisor and money manager, PMA Financial.
13. Also in 2002, Schools Now received $250 from then and now sitting board member Mary Warren (employed as a public school teacher in another district), and $300 from none other than superintendent Ken Arndt. So a board member who is also in the state teacher union and the superintendent were overtly supporting a tax increase for District 300. Does this seem right?
14. I step back and look at this. I look at all the people and groups that benefit from a passed referendum. I can't help but ask if this is really for the kids? Sure, they benefit because the board won't execute its heinous and unnecessary plans for a failed referendum. But with all the other beneficiaries, what priority is placed on the kids?
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