Campaign complaints against District 211 winners dismissed
The State Board of Elections on Tuesday dismissed all campaign disclosure violation complaints a Hoffman Estates man filed against the three winners of April's Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 election.
But election officials deemed further action appropriate for Northwest Suburban Teacher's Union Local 1211 and Trans United Fund Illinois - two of the three campaign committees against whom Mark Cramer also filed complaints.
Cramer's complaints against District 211 board members Anna Klimkowicz, Robert LeFevre Jr. and Ed Yung were filed this summer and largely involved spring campaign signs he claimed didn't identify who paid for them.
"Everything was dismissed for us," Yung said. "(State elections officials) said Mr. Cramer had no grounds to file what he filed."
"I glad that this issue is resolved," Klimkowicz said. "However, I am troubled that good people and organizations with good intentions were made to feel that they did something questionable. ... We all learn from this and move forward." LeFevre said the Board of Elections' vote was to accept the recommendations of its hearing officer, Andy Nauman. LeFevre shared the written recommendation on his own case, in which Nauman found all four of Cramer's allegations groundless.
Cramer also filed complaints against the teachers union, Trans United Fund Illinois and the Palatine-based committee Parents and Neighbors for Quality Education (PNQE), alleging their roles in the campaign signs involved in his complaints against the candidates.
All allegations against PNQE were dismissed as unjustified, Board of Elections Assistant Executive Director Bernadette Matthews said.
But the complaint against the teachers union was found sufficiently justified to direct it in the future to provide proper attribution of campaign funding sources or face a fine up to $5,000, she said.
That also was the outcome of one campaign sign allegation against Trans United Fund Illinois, Matthews said.
Cramer's complaint also claimed Trans United Fund failed to properly report a $10,000 contribution from high-profile donors Karin and Lana Wachowski of Chicago on the day after the election.
The elections board found Trans United Fund failed to timely report a contribution of $10,000 or more, and failed to electronically refile a report. That was referred to Board of Elections staff to determine an appropriate fine, Matthews said.
Representatives of the teachers union, Trans United Fund Illinois and PNQE could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Cramer said he didn't believe he could comment until after the meeting's minutes were approved and all parties notified in writing.
His complaints had claimed the teachers union bought individual candidate signs and Trans United Fund bought combined signs for all three candidates that were distributed by PNQE.
In August, PNQE Treasurer Lindsay Christensen said her committee was not involved in distributing signs that lacked attribution.
Trans United Fund Illinois Treasurer Daye Pope said in August her group bought signs supporting the three candidates but none lacked attribution.
Teachers union President John Braglia said in August the union had bought signs for Klimkowicz, LeFevre and Yung but denied Cramer's implication it represented an endorsement.
Braglia added the union hosted a forum for all six candidates and made it clear the union would provide any campaign assistance candidates wanted. Only Klimkowicz, LeFevre and Yung accepted the offer, he said.
Union endorsements are not prohibited under election law, Cramer said when he filed his complaints. But he believed most of the public was unaware the winning candidates had received such support from the union.