Truth check: Farnham did lobby for U-46 funding fix
State Rep. Keith Farnham has been playing his best card in his bid for another term in Springfield representing the 43rd District: a quantifiable change to help 41,000 schoolchildren in a school district that recently had mass layoffs.
The Elgin Democrat helped pass a bill this past spring to get $22 million more state funding for Elgin Area School District U-46, the state's second largest system behind Chicago's.
And even though Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed it, Farnham vowed he would fight to override Quinn's action showing that he wasn't part of the party machine and just wanted to do what was right.
“If I could get this overridden, it will be the most important thing I've done, Farnham said.
With the Nov. 2 election just weeks away, the Illinois Republican Party has turned the tables on Farnham.
A recent political mailer blames Farnham for Quinn's veto, saying Farnham never made a single phone call to Quinn's office to support the bill.
“No calls. No letters. No money for our schools, the mailer states. “All because Keith Farnham couldn't make just one phone call. Not one!
Farnham, who is facing a challenge Nov. 2 from Republican Ruth Munson, whom he unseated two years ago by 322 votes, disagreed.
“That really ticks me off because it's a lie. It's an absolute flat out lie and they know it, he said.
Curt Conrad, the executive director of the Illinois Republican party, which put out the mailer, disagrees.
“The Illinois Republican Party stands by the contents of the mail piece, he said.
When Quinn vetoed the bill, the governor said he “could not approve a measure that would boost state aid to one district at the expense of others.
In response, Farnham started going door to door with a petition that he now says has more than 2,500 signatures on it. He is still collecting signatures and plans to use it during the fall veto session, which is in mid-November and after the election.
Friday morning, Farnham presented phone records indicating a series of calls with Lindsay Anderson, Quinn's legislative director, on Friday, July 23, along with July 26 and 27, the day Quinn vetoed the bill.
Farnham also re-emailed a “photo release issued May 27 by his office, showing him presenting 250 letters to Quinn's then-Chief of Staff Jerome Stermer on May 26.
Reached via phone at his home in Evanston Friday, Stermer confirmed the meeting took place and that he received 250 letters, which he later told Quinn about.
“He (Farnham) brought in that stack of letters. I can confirm to you unequivocally that was a very specific moment and we had our picture taken, Stermer said. “There was little doubt about Rep. Farnham's aggressive advocacy in behalf of the proposal. He worked tirelessly to persuade the governor and his staff to support the change.
Stermer, who served as Quinn's chief of staff for 18 months before stepping down, also said Farnham had talked with Anderson “many times.
Anderson did not return phone messages Friday, but Ashley Cross, Quinn's spokeswoman, called back instead.
Cross said the two numbers provided by Farnham were in fact those for Anderson.
“Did she (Anderson) have direct communication with Farnham on the bill? The answer is yes, Cross said. “Those were her numbers and the calls did happen.
Munson and fellow Republican Steve Rauschenberger who hopes to unseat Democrat Michael Noland in the 22nd Senate District filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Quinn's office seeking documents related to Farnham's push for the U-46 bill.
Quinn's office responded that it had no record of “letters, faxes, electronic communications and phone logs/records with Farnham related to potential changes to the school funding formula for Elgin Area School District U-46. That response from Quinn's office is the basis for the flier that has Farnham upset.
Cross said the governor's office did not have phone records from late-July when the FOIA request came in.
“At the time of the request, our FOIA officer said there were no responsive documents at that time, Cross said. “If we didn't have the documents yet, we can't provide them.
Munson said she submitted the FOIA request on Sept. 27 to Quinn's office.
“I can't speak to the flier. It was created by the Illinois Republican Party, Munson said. “The response we received was directly from the governor's office. Why wouldn't they give us accurate information?
As for the change in the funding formula, Munson said she supports it.
Munson added that the problem was identified by the Illinois State Board of Education in 2009 when she was no longer in office and passed on to U-46 officials.
“There's a problem in the funding formula that needs to be fixed, Munson said.
Asked why he never sent Quinn an e-mail, Farnham replied: “My reaction is to call people or go directly to their office and talk to them. That's the strongest appeal, one-on-one.