Bokor has betrayed the public trust

By divulging the contents of a confidential communication from the president of the District 15 school board to a third party, board member Rich Bokor has betrayed the public’s trust. Mr. Bokor said that he was seeking counsel because he was unable to receive clarification from board leadership or District 15 administration, and reached out to Chapman because he has been a mentor, and someone who had been through the bidding process countless times.

The veracity of Mr. Bokor’s reasons for the transmission of the confidential information would seem to come down to the timing. First, according to time stamps on the email he forwarded to former board member Gerald Chapman, a maximum of 29 minutes had elapsed from the time the message was sent by President Millar till Mr. Bokor hit the forward button. Second, President Millar’s message was providing information on the agenda item about transportations bids at a board meeting scheduled for Feb. 20, five days hence.

Mr. Bokor is asking the public to believe that since he was unable to obtain clarification in 29 minutes from either the board leadership or district administrators, he was justified seeking outside counsel, passing on confidential information in the midst of labor contract negotiations and violating an attorney-client relationship.

Moreover, that Mr. Chapman had ostensibly not been involved in evaluating the transportation bids begs the question of how he could be of assistance.

Trust and collaboration are often portrayed as the keystone of a successful school board. Mr. Bokor has demonstrably betrayed the trust of his colleagues and the trust of the public he has sworn to serve. If he is truly interested in the success of District 15 he would immediately resign his position on the board and withdraw his name as a candidate for re-election.

Joe H. Heater

Palatine