District 214 candidates face uphill battle against slate

With eight candidates running for four seats on the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 board, there's clearly a lot of interest in providing oversight of the second-largest high school district in Illinois.

But four of the candidates admit they face an uphill battle against the others, who are running together as the Supporters of District 214 slate, an establishment group that's been undefeated in local elections since forming in 2007.

Running together are Mark Hineman, an engineer from Mount Prospect seeking his third term on the board; current board Vice President Todd Younger, a six-year incumbent and commercial banker from Arlington Heights; Millie Palmer, an attorney from Arlington Heights; and Lenny Walker, a senior executive at Kennicott Brothers Wholesale Florist from Wheeling.

Longtime board member Bill Dussling helped recruit Palmer and Walker, after incumbents Mimi Cooper and James Perkins decided not to seek re-election. But those on the slate maintain they'd be independent if elected to the board.

"We have heated debates and we disagree. There's no question," Younger said. "I don't know if this is a lost art, especially in the state of Illinois, but we get consensus, we agree, and that's why you see 7-0 votes. We don't have anybody on the board who feels they have to dissent for the sake of dissent. We find middle ground."

Hineman was first elected in 2009 as part of the slate, which formed to oust board member Leslie Pinney following a book banning controversy. He said the current board gives Superintendent Dave Schuler "pretty free rein, but we're monitoring all the time."

"If we see that he's going in a weird direction, we kind of rein (things) back in or ask questions, like, 'Why is this happening?'" Hineman said.

Walker, who helped revive Wheeling High School's parent-teacher organization, is making his second run for office after an unsuccessful bid for the Prospect Heights Elementary District 23 school board.

"We banded together to promote what each of us thought independently," Walker said of the slate. "We all bring different things to it. The one thing that's common between all four of us is that there is no single agenda."

Palmer, a parent volunteer with athletics and dance programs at Rolling Meadows High School and 14-year coach of the Arlington Cowboys cheerleading program, said part of her job as an estate planner is solving problems - experience she hopes to bring to the school board.

"I'm a problem solver and a doer. I have a hard time sitting on the sidelines," Palmer said.

Kevin Lindell, an insurance broker from Mount Prospect, is making his second run for the board after losing two years ago. Although he said he's pleased with the quality of teachers and leadership in the district, he said he was dissatisfied with the district's summer school bridge program his incoming freshman child took.

"You really need to have skin in the game," said Lindell, adding that he would bring a parent's perspective to the board.

Frank Biga III, an Oak Lawn Community High School teacher from Arlington Heights, said he would bring a teacher's perspective. Although Biga is treasurer of his teachers union board and has been involved in two collective bargaining cycles, he said he would represent taxpayers' interests in District 214.

"I think you could put on different hats depending upon the role you're in," said Biga, a Republican precinct captain who ran unsuccessfully for Arlington Heights library board in 2009 and 2011.

Ben Scherr, a Buffalo Grove sports writer who has a master's degree in higher education, says he supports the superintendent's Redefining Ready initiative, which proposes different metrics than just test scores to judge whether students are prepared for college. But Scherr wants the district to put a greater emphasis on community service hours and develop a better way to measure it.

Hamen, a Prospect Heights alderman from 2007 to 2011, said he's looking to get back into politics after losing a re-election bid for alderman and a campaign against Elaine Nekritz for state representative.

"There aren't any major concerns in the district I'm aware of. I chose to run because of the highly dedicated and quality administrators already serving District 214," Hamen said. "I've been in the military and around the world and seen different cultures, and I think I have a lot to bring to the board."

Each is seeking a 4-year term.