COD group faces state elections complaint
A Wheaton man opposed to the College of DuPage's $168 million borrowing proposal on the Nov. 2 ballot has filed a complaint with the state's election board against a group supporting the plan.
Mark Stern said the group, Supporters of College of DuPage, is violating state election law by not identifying itself as the group responsible for posting signs supporting the ballot question. A hearing is slated for Monday.
According to state campaign finance disclosure records, Supporters of College of DuPage is led by former COD board of trustees member Diane Landry. The treasurer of the group is another former board member, Mark Nowak. Neither returned calls seeking comment about the complaint or the operations of the group.
The former chairman of the group is Joe Moore, the college's current associate vice president of external relations. Moore's home address in Glen Ellyn is still listed as the group's mailing address. Moore did not return calls seeking comment.
Stern said he became concerned about the group when financial reports were released showing Supporters of College of DuPage had raised nearly $50,000, mostly from companies that do business with the college.
“I see a major conflict of interest,” Stern said. “Tax dollars are being used to solicit for more tax dollars.”
Chapman & Cutler is a Chicago-based law firm that received $30,000 in 2007 to serve as the college's bond counsel. According to state campaign finance records, the firm donated $3,500 to Supporters of College of DuPage. Gilbane Building Company was the construction management firm that oversaw the recent completion of the college's Health and Science Center. That company donated $5,000, state records show. A number of employees and officers of Power Construction in Schaumburg donated several thousand dollars to the group. The company received $1.8 million in May to oversee construction of the Homeland Security Education Center, according to the COD board's minutes.
“I have no comment about that,” said Kenneth Gorman, a vice president at Power Construction. “College of DuPage is an excellent institution that takes care of thousands of peoples' lives in the county. It's a wonderful institution.”
Even companies that lost construction bids donated to the group. Halloran & Yauch Inc. did not get the contract for a new campus sprinkler system, but the company donated $1,000 to Supporters of College of DuPage. Aqua Designs Inc. of Rockdale did get the sprinkler contract with a winning bid of $171,579, according to board minutes. That company donated $2,000 to the group.
The largest single contribution of $10,000 came from the J. Legat Family Partnership. Legat Architects is the firm that was paid by COD to design the Homeland Security Education Center, according to the COD board's records.
It's unclear what the money from Supporters of College of DuPage is being used for. The board approved more than $250,000 for an advertising campaign to educate voters about the plan.
COD is seeking voter approval to borrow $168 million for several renovation and construction projects on campus.
School officials say if the initiative is approved it will only allow the college to extend its current taxing level. If it is rejected, the owner of a $300,000 house would see a reduction of about $35 a year from the college's portion of their property tax bill.
According to the DuPage County Clerk's office, the college's current tax rate is 21.27 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value. That translates to the owner of a $300,000 house paying about $208 a year to the college.