Hearing on GEA election complaint set April 2 - Kane County Chronicle

GENEVA – A State Board of Elections hearing is scheduled April 2 on a complaint filed against the Geneva Education Association alleging it spent more than $5,000 to send out campaign mailers for school board candidates without forming a political action committee, as required by law.

Batavia resident Robert McQuillan, who filed the complaint March 15, said he will attend the hearing at at the James R. Thompson Center at noon.

Bridget Shanahan, a spokesperson for the Illinois Education Association, said a representative would also attend the hearing.

James Reed, government relations director for the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Political Action Committee for Education, said McQuillan’s complaint “is completely unfounded.”

Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections, said it is a closed hearing before a hearing officer.

“Both sides will present their cases to a hearing officer,” Dietrich said. “Nothing is made public unless or until our board decides the complaint was made on justifiable grounds. Then the documents pertaining to it would then become public.”

The hearing officer would make a recommendation to the Board of Elections. The recommendation would then go before the board at its next meeting at 10:30 a.m. April 16, also in the Thompson Center, Dietrich said.

“The board can accept the recommendation or do something else,” Dietrich said.

The teachers union endorsed candidates Katherine Frye, Alicia Saxton and Robert Cabeen in the April 2 consolidated election, according to the mailer and to the candidates.

While the Geneva Education Association paid for the mailer, it shows that it was mailed by the Illinois Political Action Committee for Education.

The threshold for requiring formation of a political committee is $5,000 raised or spent on behalf of a candidate or ballot question over 12 months, Dietrich said.

Geneva Academic Association President Kevin Gannon had said at the time of McQuillan's complaint that they had spent just over $1,750, not enough to meet the legal requirement to form a political action committee.

But since then, Gannon did form a political action committee, Geneva Educators 4 Students, registering it March 21 with the state board, records show.

Gannon lists himself as the chairman and the treasurer is listed as Kim Hardt, a math teacher at Geneva Middle School South.

While Gannon lists his home address in Burlington Township, Hardt lists her address as 1415 Viking Drive, the same as the middle school where she teaches, according to the filing.

McQuillan questioned Hardt listing the school’s address in the state filing for a political action committee, but Dietrich said it did not matter.

“It’s a legit address as long as it’s where we can reach the treasurer,” Dietrich said. “It's a problem only if the school district has a prohibition on receiving personal mail at work. It’s fine as far as we are concerned.”

However, the school district's bylaws and policies state: "No officer or employee shall intentionally perform any prohibited political activity during any compensated time. Nor shall they intentionally use any property or resources of the board in connection with any prohibited political activity."

In a text message, Gannon stated that "using the middle school address has never been an issue, but if it becomes one, we will change this."

District officials were not available Friday to comment.

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