Complaint against Indian Trails library justified, state panel rules

A few days after the Illinois State Board of Elections determined his complaint was justified, activist Rob Sherman’s lawyer vowed Thursday to seek a court order overturning the Indian Trails Library referendum voters narrowly approved earlier this month.

“We believe the library wrongly spent public funds for electioneering and for materials favoring the passage of the referendum,” Sherman attorney Richard Means said. “We filed a FOI (Freedom of Information) request today requiring them to more completely disclose their spending.”

So far library officials have turned over documents that reveal $3,390 was spent on brochures and handouts and another $2,055 on staff time, Means said.

“So they spent $5,000 in taxpayer money to convince taxpayers to spend more taxpayer money,” Means said. “That’s absolutely wrong.”

Means also said the Friends of the Library missed deadlines when it reported last week it spent $4,700 to promote the referendum.

“That’s way after we blew the whistle,” he said.

Gene Looft, president of the Indian Trails library board, declined to comment and forwarded questions to the library’s attorney, Roger Ritzman. He also declined to comment.

“In all likelihood, library representatives won’t comment while matters are pending,” Ritzman said.

While the state Board of Elections found Sherman’s complaint justified, they took no further action. The board could have ordered Indian Trails to hold a public hearing or even declare the election results null and void, said Andy Nauman, deputy director of the election board’s Division of Campaign Disclosure.

A transcript of the hearing can be found on the board’s website next week, Nauman said.

By only 144 votes, voters agreed April 5 to let the library district extend a tax rate increase first approved back in 1995. The additional funds will pay to reconfigure some rooms for quiet study areas and other rooms for teens. The library also plans to build a small addition for meeting rooms near the front of the building.

A day after the election, library director Tom Simiele resigned. He said his decision to leave the district was made before the election and had nothing to do with Sherman’s complaint.

Michael Madden, the library’s interim director, declined to offer a reaction to the state’s findings. He was unaware that Sherman’s lawyer was headed to court.

“From what I understand, this is in a holding pattern right now,” Madden said. “There is nothing we can do about it right now.”

The Indian Trails Library District includes much of Wheeling and Buffalo Grove, plus smaller areas of Prospect Heights and Arlington Heights.