CLC faculty backs candidates

Faculty at the College of Lake County have created a political organization to champion goals of transparency, fiscal responsibility and accountability.

One point of concern faculty have had regarding these goals has been the hiring of lobbyists by the CLC board of trustees, lobbyists who have provided inaccurate information and made misleading statements regarding their efforts on behalf of CLC. To gather more information, faculty recently wrote to state and local elected officials, asking them if they, as representatives of CLC, and to whom the lobbyists were claiming an advantageous relationship, supported the continued hire of these lobbyists. We received only comments of concern regarding the more than $200,000 cost to Lake County taxpayers.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, faculty were also able to obtain copies of the monthly bills sent to the college by these lobbyists. Only an amount is provided; $8,000 or $5,000 for services rendered and $20.00 for phone calls. There is no breakdown of the type or cost of labor done on behalf of CLC for any of the submitted bills.

Charlie Breit, William M. Griffin and Amanda D. Howland are three of six candidates running in the April 7 elections for the three open seats on the CLC board of trustees. Among other efforts, Breit, Griffin and Howland would work together to end wasteful payouts to ineffective lobbyists, provide full access to all board expenses, increase the profile of CLC at state and local levels and use taxpayer dollars responsibly.

Faculty at CLC are endorsing Charlie Breit, William M. Griffin and Amanda D. Howland. We invite Lake County students and taxpayers to visit our Web site, voteclc.com and learn more about these candidates.

Wendy Brown

Professor of Anthropology

College of Lake County

Grayslake