Schools

D86 Board President: Skoda 'Ringmaster' of Monday's 'Political Circus'

Email from board member encouraged meeting attendees to take plenty of photos to distract board and administrators.

The president of the District 86 school board Tuesday accused another board member of orchestrating a protest at what turned out to be a contentious meeting Monday night.

's Dennis Brennan sent out a release Tuesday afternoon that criticized fellow board member Dr. Richard Skoda for circulating an email prior to Monday night’s meeting that encouraged potential attendees to “discombobulate” board members by taking pictures at a meeting that featured a discussion of the district’s intervention on residential and commercial property tax appeals, which Skoda said he is against.

(. The board eventually voted in favor of continuing its interventions in commercial appeals and pushed a decision on residential appeal to a later date.)

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Brennan’s release said Skoda’s email “orchestrated a protest at the district’s Monday board meeting for political purposes” and suggests that Skoda apologize.

Brennan said he was forwarded Skoda’s email around 11 p.m. Monday night after the meeting from a person he said did not want identified. In his release, Brennan said the person who provided him the email was not on Skoda's original email list and was “disgusted” by Skoda’s message.

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Skoda confirmed he sent the email at 5 p.m. Monday night to about 10 people, who then forwarded it to others. Skoda said he emails people often before meetings to let them know what will be discussed and when and where to go.

“I sent that out to people I know and encouraged people to send it out to like-minded people who might be interested in the meeting,” Skoda said. “I stand by that.” 

In addition to giving email recipients the location of the meeting at Hinsdale Central, and thanking them for giving up “a summer’s eve” for the meeting, Skoda’s email encourages recipients to take photos “of the board members and adm. at the board table.”

“This will discombobulate them and have an impact,” Skoda’s email reads. “So if any of you are of a mind to do this for a little extra fun, bring a camera and shoot away, even if it is a cheap throw away.”

On Tuesday, Skoda did not defend the call to take photos.

“I wrote that hurriedly. Maybe that was ill chosen,” Skoda said.

Skoda’s email also lets recipients know when they can make public comments. It says folks can sign up to speak at the beginning of the meeting, and simply stand up to speak at the end of the session.

“The end will be a good opportunity to either thank or slam the board. It is common for residents to speak twice,” Skoda’s email reads. “Also, if you cannot hear well [which is often the case at Central], please shout out, ‘WE CANNOT HEAR.’”

Monday’s meeting featured a discussion of and vote on a resolution concerning the district’s intervention in commercial and residential property tax appeals. The board voted 5-2 that the district’s lawyers should represent the body’s interests in commercial appeals but decided to wait 60 days to make a decision on residential appeal intervention.

Skoda and board member Dianne Barrett voted against the resolution.

At one point, Brennan was likened to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi by audience member John Greaves for pushing a vote on the resolution when Greaves thought discussion was still ongoing. Skoda also said he believed Brennan broke parliamentary rules by prematurely calling for a vote when discussion was not over. 

In his release, Brennan called Skoda the “ringmaster” of “a political circus.” Over the phone, Brennan said he noticed the cameras and thought it peculiar.

“It appears to me that [Skoda] is not looking to have a discussion about issues but rather trying to embarrass other board members and get a reaction from other board members rather than solving whatever problems are there,” Brennan said.

Skoda, meanwhile, said he’s trying to get people to go to the meetings instead of hearing about them secondhand from neighbors or media.

“No matter how people get there, or for whatever reason, I think you want people to be engaged and be involved,” Skoda said.

With the exception Greaves yelling at Brennan in the middle of the meeting, Skoda said everyone acted with decorum. According to the board member, Brennan's release Tuesday came after the board president "lost the argument on all counts" Monday night. 

"He had a bad night," Skoda said. "He embarrassed himself. He’s frustrated."

Moving forward, Brennan said each board member needs to decide what their role on the board will be.

“If Rick is determined to make himself a political outsider who wants to attack the board on every issue, I’m going to call him on anything he says that’s wrong,” Brennan said.


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