Facebook Fakers Bash Elmhurst School Hopefuls

ELMHURST, IL – Facebook accounts are being created to make it appear as if everyday Elmhurst residents are suddenly speaking up to oppose particular school board candidates.

It's all a sham.

The Facebook profiles of the commenters show no posts and no friends. The profile photos were uploaded six days ago.

The similarly worded comments started appearing over the weekend on Elmhurst Patch's Facebook page.

The messages are in opposition to four of the nine school board candidates, Beth Hosler, Courtenae Trautmann, Kelly Asseff and Kelly Henry.

Hosler and Trautmann are incumbents, while Henry and Asseff are political newcomers. All four candidates have given statements that are generally supportive of the school district's administration. In some places in town, their campaign signs are grouped together.

The other candidates are Tom Chavez, Lan Li, Linda Nudera, Jammie Esker Schaer and Ben Zulauf.

Patch has been pointing out the fake Facebook profiles since Monday morning.

On Tuesday, Elmhurst resident Guido Nardini, a Ward 6 alderman candidate, got into the act.

"The value of the Patch is lessened by the presence of these fake accounts," Nardini wrote on Facebook. "If residents of Elmhurst are going to treat this site as a news source, they need to trust that it isn't all a ruse."

He accused other board candidates of being behind the comments from the fake profiles.

Patch asked Nardini to provide evidence. In an interview, he said, "It's 100 percent speculation. Man to man, can you imagine anyone else who would smear the names of the Kellys or the incumbents?"