Top Lyons Township High Finishers Mum On Handling Of Land Issue

LA GRANGE, IL – The top two finishers in Tuesday's Lyons Township High School board election declined during their campaigns to weigh in on whether the board was right to keep the public out of the loop for much of a year on a proposed land deal.

The three other candidates, however, criticized the board's handling of the matter.

Four seats were up in the election.

In the contest, Christine Kozelka Campbell and Shawn Kennedy were the top vote-getters at 22 percent and 21 percent, respectively, according to unofficial results.

Following were Gioia Giannotti Frye at 20 percent and Elias Lopez at 19 percent. The losing candidate was Arlene Cabana, who got 18 percent.

Only Frye was an incumbent, having been appointed in November, which was long after the height of the land deal controversy.

In much of 2022 and early 2023, the high school was secretly courting an industrial developer that wanted to buy the school's 70 acres in Willow Springs. The site is next to houses and Pleasantdale Elementary School.

Industrial uses are banned in the area in question. After the matter became public, the attorney general found the board broke the state's open meetings law by repeatedly meeting behind closed doors about the land.

In its questionnaire, Patch asked candidates whether the board should have kept the public in the dark for much of a year. Patch also inquired whether the attorney general's decision was correct.

Campbell did not address whether the board was right. For his part, Kennedy said he was not privy to the discussions, but said he would push for "100% transparency." (At the attorney general's request, the board released the closed-session recordings.)

As for the attorney general's decision, Campbell and Kennedy declined to say whether it was correct.

The others weighed in.

Candidate Cabana was at ground zero of the dispute in her role at the time as president of the Pleasantdale School District 107 board. She said she was concerned about the effects of industrial development on students at the elementary school. Under her leadership, the district came out in opposition.

During the closed sessions, the high school board discussed keeping their plan secret as long as possible from other public bodies, including the Pleasantdale board.

Cabana said the board should have engaged the public and government bodies.

Cabana and Lopez both said the attorney general was correct.

"If you break the rules, you should be held accountable," Lopez said.

Frye appeared to agree with the attorney general by saying real estate transactions that impact the community should be conducted openly, with proper notice and opportunity for public feedback.

Frye, whom the board appointed with a unanimous vote, also said the board's process "lacked the transparency it deserved" and that it underscored an important lesson – "we are all in this together."

Lopez took the board to task for not letting the public know.

"The school community is now divided and some of our community members have valid mistrust for the board and administration," Lopez said.

In a few weeks, the four winners will be sworn in. They will join a seven-member board with only two members – Kari Dillon and Jill Beda Daniels – who took part in the closed meetings.

Board President Jill Grech and member Michael Thomas decided against running again.