And Now You Know the Rest of the Story

Today Bongo is introducing another feature for his Blog, called "And Now You Know the Rest of the Story."

This feature is in direct response to the negative propaganda machine in place in District 158, where two school board members tell their slanted versions of issues while leaving out key facts that tell the whole story.

The Appointment of Mike Skala to Fill the Board Vacancy

Only six months after being elected to the board, Jim Carlin resigned. A selection process was held, and four individuals applied for the vacancy: David Larkin, Linda Moore, Mike Skala and Paul Troy. At the onset of that meeting, Larry Snow and Aileen Seedorf said it was an illegal meeting because the legal meeting notice was incomplete and disenfranchised all Kane County residents from the selection process. The remaining four board members disagreed and the selection process took place as planned. After a Q and A session in public and lots of discussion behind closed doors, former board member Mike Skala was chosen to fill the vacancy through the spring of 2009. The vote was 4-2. Snow and Seedorf voted against the appointment.

THE REST OF THE STORY

The notice in question was not the official legal notice for the meeting as Snow and Seedorf continually falsely claimed, but rather a press release sent out to promote the vacancy. There is no legal requirement that the board issue a press release and Snow and Seedorf knew this. The only legal requirement was that an official legal meeting notice be posted. The official notice was posted and everything in it was proper and correct. The press release, however, did include an accidental omission, and listed only McHenry County rather than McHenry and Kane Counties. Snow and Seedorf knew of this omission and kept it to themselves rather than bringing it to the attention of Dr. Burkey several days before the meeting. If the issue had been brought forth when Snow and Seedorf learned of the omission, Board President Shawn Green said a new press release would have been sent out. But Snow and Seedorf decided to keep this information to themselves and they staged an event meant to embarrass the district during a public meeting by making it look like District 158 was not interested in having Kane County residents serve on the board. It was done on purpose and with malicious intent on the part of Snow and Seedorf. Snow and Seedorf accused the rest of the board and administration of disenfranchising residents, when, if anyone truly was disenfranchised, it is they who disenfranchised residents by keeping the information to themselves rather than allowing for an updated press release to be sent out prior to the meeting. By the way, at the selection meeting Dr. Burkey said he did not receive even one phone call or inquiry from a Kane County resident who was confused by the press release.