With no regrets, Pinney doesn't rule out running for other political offices

There probably won't be another Leslie Pinney for a long time.

She was controversial even before winning her seat four years ago after raising $20,000 to run for the nonpaying spot on the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 board. The money worked for her in 2005 but didn't on Tuesday, when Pinney raised only about $8,000 and lost.

Now that it's over, she'd like to get a few things off her chest. And the first is no, she doesn't regret the book-banning thing.

Pinney did express some relief that the whole thing is over.

"I'd be happy either way," she said about the results. "I wasn't sure I should run this year, but I decided to leave it up to the community. I enjoyed getting to know all the different schools. I enjoyed talking to different people. I'm not sure about the board meetings though. Sometimes it didn't seem like there were a lot of real issues being discussed."

In 2006, Pinney wanted to pull nine books from the high school district's required reading list because of content she considered sexually graphic, vulgar and violent.

At the board meeting, residents waited hours to get their two-minute turn at the podium, cramming the 350 seats set up for them at Forest View Educational Center and, when those were filled, flooding the gymnasium's bleachers. About 1:30 a.m., the board voted 6-1, with Pinney dissenting, to keep the books on reading lists.

"Looking back, I did the best I could," Pinney said. "I brought up issues I thought were important, and those books and how educators pick them was important."

With all precincts reporting, unofficial totals showed James Perkins had 16,301 votes, newcomer Mark Hineman had 14,715 votes, Mimi Cooper-Spickard had 14,618 votes and Lenore Gonzales Bragaw had 14,471 votes. Pinney came in last with 14,065 votes.

Bragaw, currently board president, said she was ecstatic about the results.

"Having a dissenting voice on the board is not a had thing, but there were some unnecessary media sideshows and distractions," Bragaw said. "That took away from what we were trying to do. I give voters credit. They got it."

A month ago, Spickard-Cooper, Bragaw and Perkins released a statement saying they supported Hineman instead of Pinney. They said it wasn't personal - they just liked Hineman's "educational philosophy" better.

Pinney, meanwhile, fired off a news release of her own.

"This doesn't surprise me at all," Pinney wrote. "I am someone who is willing to speak up, and they find that inconvenient. They don't want anyone who asks questions."

Throughout her tenure, Pinney would often find herself the lone dissenter on the board, although nothing she did rose to the level of controversy brought on by the book banning issue.

And she never brought up the book list again.

In March 2008, Pinney did question a District 214 contract to buy five vans from Lattof Chevrolet of Arlington Heights for $104,000. Pinney said it didn't appear proper to accept a bid from a company that had made campaign contributions to some District 214 candidates.

Fellow board member Bill Dussling asked Pinney to take back her comments. She refused and accused Dussling of trying to intimidate her.

Dussling expects board meeting to run "more smoothly" without Pinney and said that her sole legacy could be the book-banning issue.

"It did have a lot of stick to it," he said. "It got a lot of attention. Voters have long memories."

But Pinney's legacy also could be how it changed spending on school board races. In 2005, she raised $20,000, most of which came from the Family Taxpayer Network, which opposes abortion and gay rights. The race was considered to be one of the most expensive school board campaigns in Illinois history, but two years later, a group of District 214 incumbents countered by raising $60,000.

This election, the Family Taxpayer Network donated $8,000 to Pinney. Her challengers collected a $4,000 donation from a custodial union.

"Everyone was upset about the (Family Taxpayer Network) money, but at least I didn't get money from a union, which is an inside group," Pinney said.

Dussling hopes future candidates run less expensive campaigns.

"It should be about what you bring to the school district, not about pushing a political agenda," he said.

Pinney said she's not ruling out running for other political offices.

"In the future, only God knows," she said.

Pinney's last meeting will be April 16. Hineman will be sworn in on May 7.