The Downers Grove Community Advocates will host separate forums for village council and park board candidates in preparation for making endorsements for those offices.
The first meeting, featuring council candidates, will be held from 2 -4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 8 at the District 99 Administrative Service Center, 6301 Springside Ave.
Incumbents William Waldack and Marilyn Schnell and challengers Bob Barnett and Jim Norris are vying for three open seats on the council. Barnett was a founding member of the DGCA.
The second meeting, for park board candidates, will be held at a time and date to be announced at the Administrative Service Center. Incumbents Art Jaros and Ron Smith and newcomers Janet Barr and Fred Gusel are running for two park board seats.
As is customary at the organization’s caucuses, the DGCA will pose questions to each candidate then make endorsements which, in years past, have been widely circulated. The Q-and-A sessions are open to the public.
New this year, the Advocates plan to post audio podcasts of each forum on their site, www.dgcadvocates.net.
“The Downers Grove Community Advocates (DGCA) exists to reach out to the community and to work in a positive effort to preserve the best of our community and to move forward to make it even better working primarily through the election process,” according to the Web site, and “invites all of those interested to join with them in this effort.”
It’s my understanding the DGCA is not, as you state in your first paragraph, hosting a caucus for the school board candidates.
The DGCA has never endorsed school board candidates. From their website:
“As always school board candidates endorsed by other recognized local community groups will be published on our website and in our publications.”
You’re right, Prag; my bad. Meant to write “park board,” but “school board” came out instead.
Must have school board on my brain for some reason. I need to stop composing posts late at night.
Let the games begin!
“As always school board candidates endorsed by other recognized local community groups will be published on our website and in our publications.”
“Recognized community group” Leadership for all 99 is Megan Schroeder, and if Downers Grove Advocates show that endorsement, what’s the dif? When the school caucus endorsed candidates did that get put on their website? No, cuz that was hijacked don’t you know. All those people that weren’t supposed to be there voting to endorse candidates that weren’t supposed to be endorsed!
Lemme guess, Beckman, Pavesich, Barnett, and White (cuz White is the big time Sandack guy) show up as endorsed by Schroeder I mean Advocates I mean LFA99.
Look at who runs DGCA and their groups-Library, 99-have their gimme-maximum-tax-increase pedal to the metal every year. Too much is never enough. No thanks.
Hey Thoman, when you gonna get looking into these guys? Or are you just fixated on red light scameras nowadays? (Thoman insult in so this gets published)
Glad you have work for me…
/humor
There were at least 5 people associated with Leadership For All 99 in 2007. While the address matches up to Ms. Schroeder, Bob Lemke, and Paul McCarthy rounded out the three incumbents that apparently pooled their resources and filed their D-1 (Statement of Organization) on 3/27/2007, about three weeks before the election.
Lucy Lloyd, however, is listed as Chair of the group. Ms. Lloyd said she had managed a campaign in a comment here at DGreport, so I’ll assume this is the one. Lynn Sapyta is listed as Treasurer. All of this information is public record.
There’s a certain amount of sense and fiscal efficiency in combining expenses.
In 2005 Advocates Caucus 2005 made campaign contributions. Their purpose as reported to the state was to “Support candidates endorsed”. The treasurer at that time was Ken Lerner. They endorsed and materially contributed to:
Council-
Marylin Schnell
Martin Tully
Bill Waldack
Park Borad-
Bob Gelwicks
Kathy Mahoney
and for 99 Board-
Terry Pavesich
Allyn Barnett
Julia K. Beckman
Craig Greenwood.
So, Dood, I would be a bit more circumspect before you fire off on how it’s a one person show, but Advocates appear to have endorsed and contributed to 99 elections, but not 58 elections.
If any Advocate member is reading this they can comment on their publications and promotional activities for candidates. It looks like the money they raised basically paid for a mailer for their endorsed candidates.
I’d urge people to attend this year’s DGCA candidate meeting, any forums put on by the students or PTA’s or other groups.
DG Cares did a great job a couple weeks ago at the Moose and got about a hundred people out to hear 58 candidates, and posted the audio on their website. Very nice.
To clarify:
Leadership for All 99 was the name given to the incumbent campaign for 99 school board candidates in the last election. A slogan, if you will (like “Time for a Change”). LFA99 was not a caucus, did not interview candidates, did not promote candidates for other elections– it was simply the 99 incumbent campaign. I don’t believe there was any big “secret” or “conspiracy” in that!
As for DGCA (and for the record, I’m not a member)- I wasn’t as involved in the 2005 elections, but if I remember correctly, 58 candidates ran unopposed in that election, so probably didn’t need financial support from anyone, much less the Advocates Caucus 2005 group to which Mr. Thoman refers.
Did you check the records for 2007 contributions, Thoman (thereby saving me the trouble)?
Also — it’s my impression school board candidates endorsed by other groups such as the Downers Grove Area School Board Caucus were offered a spot on the DGCA endorsement mailing if they were willing to pay their share of the freight.
I got this information from excellent sources, so I believe it is accurate.
A DGCA member can probably say what their 2007 participation entailed. There was one report filed by paper showing $4,323, which may be their mailer.
The only candidate committee that has an electronic public record of contributing back to DGCA is Committee to Elect Ronald Sandack: $500 on 4/30/2007 for publicity expenditures.
Sandack’s Committee also paid out $1,670 on the same date, 4/30/2007 to PJ McCarthy & Associates for a mailing.
P.J. McCarthy would be either father of, or 99 board member Paul McCarthy, whose company “have been innovators in fundraising, direct mail, list development and maintenance and list hygiene. We have been meeting the needs of non-profit organizations, from the smallest to the largest, for over 50 years.
P. J. McCarthy, Chairman.
Kathleen McCarthy DiCola, President.
Megan McCarthy Schroeder, List Manager.”
DiCola and Schroeder are also DGCA members. Small world.
99 looks to be something of a rematch, with Phil Labak and Deborah Boyle filing again this cycle. Both were labeled as land grabbers last time, and DG resident Boyle came within a few votes of winning a seat last time. Since Greenwood is not running again, White is the likely fill-in to flesh out the incumbent slate.
Anybody know anything about Alexandros Leventis, beyond he lives in Woodridge.
“As always school board candidates endorsed by other recognized local community groups will be published on our website and in our publications.”
Hmm. A little checking indicates the Advocates did not publish/endorse the D99 candidates endorsed by the DG Area School Board Caucus in 2007.
The incumbents — Schroeder, McCarthy and Lemke — purchased an ad in the Reporter to charge that the caucus had been crashed by Woodridge members of the KeepGreenSpaceGreen organization.
The Advocates in turn endorsed the incumbents in their literature.
You mean the DGCA didn’t list the endorsement of the caucus even though its president served on the caucus and its Secretary-Treasurer appeared before it? How could this be? With such an obvious conflict of interest going unquestioned it seems that they must have been happy with the result.
Just copy and pasting what exists in the public record and public domain. Anyone can certainly expand on what I’ve written. The DG Cares people did, and they deserve a bit more publicity for their efforts, which are pretty impressive so far.
Maybe the McCarthy thing is like the Ramones, but I kind of doubt it. It’s a local family business (gotta like that) which appears to be run by members of the family clan.
I have emails into to Mr. McCarthy and Ms. Schroeder regarding questions raised on this post. I will report as soon as one of them responds.
Until then, let’s not get carried away with speculation.
I got a VM from Paul McCarthy last night. He said someone had called him to tell him I was mentioning him here, and he wanted to talk to me, but he didn’t leave a number. If that someone reads this, or if PM reads this, best contact is my cell 630-750-5179. If I’m in a meeting I’ll call you back. Thanks.
PS: I still haven’t heard from either McCarthy or Schroeder.
I had a very pleasant conversation this am with Paul J McCarthy school board 99 member yet not related to either Pat J McCarthy, founder of PJ McCarthy & Associates, or Kathleen McCarthy DiCola and Megan McCarthy Schroeder, who are sisters. However, he does know of the Ramones. He is not Pauly Ramone either.
Nice guy.