For Immediate Release
05/04/09
630-899-9191
Andrzejewski Criticizes Conflicts of Interest at College of DuPage
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Title: Union "Pay to Play"
(Elmhurst) Today Adam Andrzejewski (R-Hinsdale) addressed the College of DuPage Board, and a packed audience, to speak out against the negative and pervasive influence of special interest money in Illinois elections in general, and the College of DuPage in particular.
Andrzejewski said, “As a resident and taxpayer in COD, it is important that I take a public stand on what is wrong with the three newly elected board members who give the appearance of having been bought and paid for by special interest union dollars.”
The most recent campaign, for the April 7th election, was funded almost entirely by a group called Friends for Education, a Political Action Committee (PAC) located on the COD campus in a building owned by the taxpayers of the district. This PAC received $34,000 from the Illinois Education Association (IPACE) and then used this money to promote candidates Kim, Savage, Svoboda, and Wendorf. Fortunately, Wendorf was defeated, but the other three won.
“This creates a conflict of interest. How can Kim, Savage, and Svoboda negotiate the approximately $100 million contract with district employees, when their campaigns were largely funded by these same, and related, unions?” Andrzejewski said.
Andrzejewski concluded, “I call on newly elected Board Members Kim, Savage, and Svoboda to recuse themselves from participating in the upcoming union salary negotiations, or, at minimum, open the negotiations to press and public scrutiny through an open and transparent process. Conflicts of interest, real and perceived, should be avoided at all levels of government.”
Andrzejewski is Founder and Past President of For The Good of Illinois, a non-profit good government, transparency organization that served as the resource in 2008 for posting the College of DuPage’s spending on line for the benefit of taxpayers and concerned citizens and organizations.
Andrzejewski was the first Republican to enter the 2010 campaign for Governor. His web site is http://www.adamforillinois.com/. Andrzejewski is willing to take on tough fights at all levels of government for the cause of openness, and to fight against waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption in all corners of Illinois.