Gavin school board president convicted of less serious charge

The president of the Gavin Elementary District 37 school board was found guilty Friday of illegally stringing bids together for contracts she approved.

The conviction in Lake County Circuit Court effectively ends Barbara Mende's political career, even though she was exonerated on the more serious charge of official misconduct.

Lake County Circuit Judge George Bridges found Mende guilty of bid-stringing after the three-day trial that ended Friday afternoon. She is eligible for up to three years in prison, but will most likely serve a probationary term or local jail time.

Bridges scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 25.

Because of the felony conviction, Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller said Mende is ineligible to continue to serve on the school board, where she has been president for three years.

The charges arose from a contract Mende negotiated in January 2006 with 5-Alarm Movers of Park Ridge to move furniture back into Gavin Central School in Ingleside.

The school had been unoccupied for 18 months due to serious structural concerns. When the repairs were finished, Mende personally contracted 5-Alarm to move furniture back into the facility, then contacted fellow board members to concur with her decision.

Witnesses testifying for the state said they told Mende the $13,000 price offered by the moving company should have gone through the competitive bid process.

Instead, Mende told the owner of 5-Alarm to submit two $6,500 invoices to the district for approval, rather than the $13,000 quote it originally submitted.

Prosecutors said that decision was a deliberate move to avoid the competitive bidding requirements.

Defense attorney Wesley Pribla argued Mende was not motivated by personal profit and wasn't aware any contract over $10,000 had to be put out for bids.

"Ms. Mende did not know (about the bid requirements)," Pribla said in his closing argument. "She did not have the intent to violate the law and she did not have the desire to violate the law."

After the conviction, fellow board members remained divided.

"In my opinion, Barbara Mende should be applauded, not persecuted, for what was done," said member Steve Moulis. "No one tried to do anything wrong. She did what she felt was best for the children of Gavin."

Member Connie Thorsen, however, said she believed from the beginning that Mende's action was wrong.

"That has been proven today in court," Thorsen said. "It's unfortunate an official in the district behaved in this manner. Hopefully we can rebuild and get past it."

Mende took the stand Friday to dispute testimony from earlier this week.

She said she called her fellow board members in the late morning and early afternoon of Jan. 12, the day 5-Alarm Movers was hired. She said she believed she had the support of a majority of the board before calling the owner of 5-Alarm and telling him he was hired.

She said it was only after Jan. 12 that board attorney Robert Swain told her she needed six of the seven board members to agree before awarding a contract worth more than $10,000 without asking for competitive bids.

Mende denied she had any connection to 5-Alarm before the contract, saying she called the company only at the advice of board Vice President Phil Mack.

She said she had the company submit two invoices of $6,500 each only because 5-Alarm wanted a down payment to cover its cost of hiring extra employees and renting trucks.

Mende has continued to serve on the Gavin board since her arrest last November, maintaining she would be found innocent.

Superintendent John Ahlemeyer said a special meeting will be scheduled to discuss how the board will move forward without Mende. The date and time has not been arranged.

Thorsen and Moulis said the board, which split politically over Mende's arrest, will try to work together for the good of the students.

"I have a positive outlook that we can move forward," Moulis said. "We have a good superintendent and we will move past this."

This was only the first of two trials for Mende. In an unrelated matter, she also has been charged with felony theft, accused of stealing $11,000 while working for the Lake County Fair Association.