Baseless attack on COD candidate

Only a few people in the makeshift courthouse that normally serves as College of DuPage's boardroom were witnesses to the sordid depths people will plumb to preserve power. That justice finally prevailed that night was scant cause for rejoicing, for the scenes that unfolded over more than four hours left a vile taste. At stake was the right of Sandy Kim, a veteran and one of the most accomplished graduates in recent COD history, to take her rightful place on the April ballot.

Aligned against her was a group containing several incumbent board members. Appointed board member Kory Atkinson objected to her candidacy, alleging that she did not meet the residency requirement. The chairman of the electoral board convened to hear the case was Micheal McKinnon, current chairman of the board of trustees, also a candidate in the election for a 6-year term. Both men are colleagues of another incumbent, Mark Nowak, who faces Ms. Kim for the 2-year term. She made no mistakes in her application; her error was that she lacked affluence sufficient to establish a residence of unquestionable stability. Her intent to establish a permanent residence at her current abode was called into question because of fluidity in her previous living arrangements for the two years prior while a student at COD. The lengths taken to destroy Ms. Kim's candidacy were breathtaking. The president of Benedictine University was subpoenaed to produce all documents relevant to Ms. Kim; the objector himself drove to a post office in Bartlett to obtain an affidavit from a postal worker. Without an iota of evidence, the chairman of the electoral board still found fit to cast a vote against her. Only by a 2-1 majority did she prevail. That she was subjected to cruel, unfair and baseless attack by far larger and more financially advantaged forces calls us to play our parts in preserving the democratic process.

Richard H. Jarman

Glen Ellyn