WTHS candidates fight waste

I was glad to see that you endorsed taxpayer advocate Rich Conley for a position on the Warren Township High School board. I wish you would have been consistent and endorsed Tony Bennett and Mark Lund as well.

All three candidates share the same commitment to the taxpayer. All three candidates oppose the excessive spending and questionable priorities of the current majority on the board.

As an incumbent Warren School Board member, Rich Conley fought the current majority policy of paying over double the market interest rate for its recent bond issue under the “Build America Bonds” program. This stalemate was broken only after the Daily Herald exposed the practice, and the board reversed its policy, and now pays less than half of the interest cost.

The current majority of the board recently committed a major blunder in the purchase of land on Stearns School Road. When the board was working in cooperation with Warren Township, the purchase made sense, considering Warren Township (a separate government body) had secured a $750,000.00 grant to use toward the purchase. Further, the Township had the expertise necessary to run sports programs on the property and would have shared in the purchase and development costs.

The current majority, over Conley’s objection, chose to exclude the township for reasons I do not understand. As a result, it lost the benefit of the township’s contribution in experience and resources, and the $750,000.00 grant was returned to the state of Illinois, unused. A true waste.

Bennett, Conley and Lund are the best choice for Warren Township High School Board to stop wasteful spending that inevitably leads to unnecessary tax increases.

Peter S. Karlovics

Gurnee