Naperville school board's pick draws fire

Jackie Romberg's appointment to the Naperville Unit District 203 school board is drawing fire from critics who say it smacks of political cronyism.

The school board voted 6-0 Thursday in favor of Romberg's appointment to the school board and she was immediately sworn in.

Romberg was one of 24 applicants to replace Jim Caulfield, who resigned in July with two years left on his term.

But some say her appointment was a foregone conclusion because she actively campaigned for three of the board members during the April election, an accusation the board vehemently denies.

In an e-mail to selected voters prior to the election, Romberg wrote: "I have been working on the re-election campaign for Suzyn Price and have been involved with www.QualityEducation 203.org."

She said the organization endorsed Price along with eventual winners Terry Fielden and Mike Jaensch, all of whom four months later agreed to appoint her to the board.

Steve Deutsch, who campaigned unsuccessfully for a board seat in both 2005 and this spring, was among the 24 candidates who applied to fill the vacancy.

When Deutsch failed to make the board's cut for the eight finalists, he complained the interview process was a charade and board members already knew who they would select.

"It still looks like a pre-determined outcome dependent on being connected with the board president," Deutsch said Thursday. "They had an opportunity here to start rebuilding trust with the rest of the community … but this just casts further doubt about whether there will be a fair evaluation (of issues)."

But Romberg said she simply campaigned for people she thought had the district's best interest in mind and was later appointed because she has a proven track record in the district.

"My first reaction is there's no question I received the appointment on my own merit," Romberg said. "I have over a decade of proven participation and leadership in the community."

Romberg, 49, is a 23-year resident of Naperville, a former financial consultant and frequent volunteer in District 203.

She's also a member of the Naperville Education Foundation board of trustees and organized last fall's Yuks for Youth comedy show that raised $50,000 for an after-school tutoring program.

Price said the accusation is insulting and Romberg is an independent thinker who brings 10 years of professional and volunteer experience.

"I think she exercised her right to be involved in a process," Price said. "The suggestion that somebody isn't allowed to exercise their right to vote I think is offensive and dangerous. She cares about the community, she's involved in the community."

Jaensch and Fielden were not at Thursday's meeting but participated via telephone. Neither returned phone calls earlier in the day seeking comment.

Superintendent Alan Leis, who was not part of the interview process, said he does not see a conflict of interest and was impressed by how diligently the board worked to select a new member.

"I see they worked really hard to involve everyone and pick the best candidates based on qualifications and interview questions and I have no reason to believe they didn't do that," he said.

But Deutsch is questioning whether the board violated two planks of its own code of conduct in picking an active member of a political action group for the seat.

That code says board members must:

• represent all school district constituents honestly and equally and refuse to surrender responsibilities to special interest or partisan political groups;

• and avoid any conflict of interest or the appearance of impropriety which could result from position, and shall not use school board membership for personal gain.

Mike Davitt, a former board member who ran unsuccessfully for re-election in April, said the appointee should have been someone who went through the tough three-month election process. He called the selection cronyism and a farce.

"If you read Price's comments in the paper how they were seeking an independent thinker, that's totally absolutely 100 percent disingenuous when you look at who they selected," Davitt said. "Somebody that was a member of Suzyn's (same community groups)."

No one spoke against Romberg's appointment during the public comment portion of Thursday's meeting and she was appointed unanimously.

"I'm delighted with the candidate we selected," board member Dean Reschke said. "And I think she'll make an outstanding contribution to the district as she has in the community up until this point."