Kaneland candidates asked about board's tense relations

There was no pussyfooting around at a forum Thursday night for Kaneland school board candidates, either by the candidates or the people asking the questions. Right off the bat, they got in to discussing the contentious nature of the current board.

Seven of the eight people running for four 4-year terms attended the forum, which was sponsored by the Kaneland Education Association and the Kaneland Citizens Advisory Committee. About 50 people watched.

Candidates Tony Valente, Jerry Elliott, Ryan Kerry, Peter Lopatin, Gale Pavlak, Teresa Witt and Pam Voorhees participated. Candidate Dan Nagel did not attend.

For the first question, moderator Patrick Crimmins read from a list of suggested characteristics for board members from the Illinois Association of School Boards, such as ”ability to work as a member of a team” and “respect for the needs and feelings of other people and a well-developed sense of fair play.” Then he asked if the board was dysfunctional, and what they would do about it.

And the first person chosen to answer was Tony Valente, who has tangled with the rest of the board at board meetings.

Valente said the dysfunction comes from having inadequate board leadership.

“I think one of the issues we have had is (not) operating meetings under Robert's Rules of Order,” he said. “If someone has a different opinion than someone else, then there are attacks that go on.”

He said other members try to stop transparency and the free expression of ideas.

He said not every vote needs to be unanimous.

“Without debate, there is no progress,” he said.

“Once you start challenging each other from a personal point of view, you have lost all dignity and respect,” said Elliott, describing how he worked to develop respect on teams he organized at work. The best outcomes happen when people have a voice in developing the objectives of a project and how they were going to treat each other, he said.

Kerry said whether it was true or not, the public perceives that the board doesn't get along, and that the board needs to “set the tempo and the direction of the district by being able to work with each other in a polite and respectful manner.”

But the only person he can control is himself, he said. “I need to treat others with respect.”

Incumbent Lopatin referenced a time he swore during an argument with Valente at a meeting.

“The evening that I completely lost it was in response to accusations that the entire board, including me, were acting in unethical ways. And no, I shouldn't have lost my cool,” he said.

Valente frequently asks great questions, he said, but loses perspective and gets tough on people, which causes them to shut down.

“I want staff to feel safe when they come before the board to present an idea,” Lopatin said.

Incumbent Pavlak said “one board member is reported more in the newspaper because he finds attention from his attacks of others” and that it was important board members “act in a calm nature.”

Witt, also an incumbent, said the hurt feelings and anger could perhaps be resolved if the board would meet with a moderator.

“We need to remember that when we lose our cool, we don't get the work done,” Witt said.

And Voorhees said the board is out of sync.

“Once a board decision is made, that team has voted, and everybody on that team should represent that decision and move forward to make it happen,” she said.

The candidates were also asked whether board members should have relatives working for the district.

Valente said no; Lopatin said he has recused himself from votes that would have affected his wife, an assistant principal. Pavlak said she has not voted on anything that affected her son, a dean at the high school, or her husband, a bus driver.

But Valente maintained that by virtue of voting on increasing the district's tax levy, they were taking actions on matters that affected their relatives.

Most of the district's revenue comes from property taxes, and most of the operating budget is spent on personnel, he said.