Gavin board members urged to resign

Board member Connie Thorsen has again asked for the resignation of three Gavin school board officials Tuesday for supporting the former board president in activity that was deemed illegal in Lake County court.

Thorson asked interim President Phil Mack to resign from the Gavin School District 37 board because he joined former board president Barb Mende and fellow board members Christine Johnson and Steve Moulis to award a contract to a moving company without going out for bids as required by law.

Mack said he would not step down from the board and refused to comment during the board meeting Tuesday night.

"So, you continue to support an illegal action," Thorsen said after Mack refused to resign. "Its very hypocritical of you Phil to do this, and it does not set a good example with the community."

Mende was found guilty Friday of illegally stringing bids together for contracts she approved while serving as board president last January.

Mende is eligible for up to three years in prison because of the conviction but will most likely serve a probationary term or local jail time. A sentencing hearing is scheduled 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.

Mende, Moulis and Johnson were not at Tuesday night's meeting.

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 after the building was repaired.

The school had been unoccupied for 18 months, and when repairs were finished on the facility, Mende personally contracted 5-Alarm to move furniture back into the building from Lake Zurich without board approval.

But rather than put the $13,000 moving contract through the state-required competitive bid process, Mende told the movers to split the contract into two separate invoices of $6,500 because, under state law, district officials are not required to go out for bid on contracts under $10,000.

After Mende approved the contract with the company, she phoned board members trying to get the votes needed to approve the expenditures. Mack, Moulis, Johnson and Mende approved the contract, and the movers were paid.

Prior to Tuesday night, Mende continued to serve on the Gavin board since being arrested last November, maintaining she would be found innocent and that she would "take the hit" should the act be considered illegal by a judge.

Superintendent John Ahlemeyer said a special meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 2 to discuss how the district will move forward without Mende.

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.