Birds of a feather flock together...and Zekich, Carmody, Cunningham (as well as Gentile) are dirty birds! Clearly, they think the voters of Orland are stupid! Let's show them that we aren't...DO NOT VOTE FOR CUNNINGHAM and GENTILE this election. Mike Carroll, please consider appealing this biased ruling...our kids deserve better!

Kate, I like many, followed the blog last night (Ty, Ben, for the great coverage) and as it went on, the handwriting was on the wall. And didn't all figure that Carmody and Zekich were dirty birds from the get go? I think the outcome was predictable.

I say, "Don't waste your time getting him tossed off the ballot, instead let's get the word out to not vote for him nor Gentile." Mr. Carroll, thank you, but your words fell on deaf ears. The fix was in. When Carmody and Zekich were sitting on the decision panel, what a joke.

Does Carmody still live in Orland Park? Rumor is he lives in downtown Chicago with his son. Let's get him removed from the board, too, if it is true that he does not live in the required boundaries. Doesn't an elected member have to live in Orland 135 district?

Last night was a predictable joke. All my humble opinion, of course.

I agree Mike Carroll will do a nice job on the Board. I have used Mike as my attorney in the past as well as John Fotopoulos. Both Mike and John did a great job and I'm supporting Carroll for the school board and Fotopoulos for the village. It's refreshing to see to local attorneys with families getting involved. I think we need change on all our boards. Just my two cents!!!

The conflict is obvious and confirmed by the AG. Another point is that MVCC has a tutoring program for elementary school students funded by the college. Spending on this program could obviously result in Orland 135 students receiving benefit from tuitions paid and taxes received by MVCC.

That should be sufficient for disqualification.

Also, school districts lobby Springfield for fund allocations and capital construction grants through the Captial Development board, and higher ed is an adversary to K-8. Which side will Mr Cunnigham be on in this internecine battle? Technology and other programs are also given by MVCC for use by K-8 elementary students, including summer enrichment classes.

The conflicts are clear and apparent. This was clearly a case political nullification by two of the election board members.

They should be challenged on this at the next Board meeting, and I think it appropriate that their resignations from the School Board be requested.

What a joke, the only attorney on the board didn't even bother to do any background work so that she could make an informed decision. Zekich didn't even realize it was a public hearing and that there was to be no closed session. Not that it mattered because the decision was made before they stepped into the room. Carmody must have been asleep because his decision had nothing to do with the information presented at the hearing. Donegan was the only one that demonstrated that she has a brain in her head and actually used the material presented to support her decision.
Cunningham's own attorney, while arguing the compatibility issue, stated that a school board position and a village trustee position was clearly incompatible under the election code. Well, Cunningham tried to do that also 2 years ago! These people are CORRUPT(Cunningham, Carmody, Zekich and Gentile) and need to be voted off the board!

Let's get real folks! Did anyone really think that his drinking buddy and his close "personal" friend would vote against one of their own? Donegan at least listened and tried to understand what was expected, but was anyone really surprised by her vote? If you believed common sense and understanding of the law would prevail, well then you are dillusional. With Dennis Brennan as Cunningham's attorney (google his name-That's an interesting read...), and Sraga Hauser barely hanging on as the school board's attorney......the writing was on the wall. The Teflon Tom won, and the only way to be rid of him and his mouth, is to campaign hard, and make sure the people of Orland are educated about him and his history and vote him out of office!

JKennedy... can you post links that you found about Dennis Brennan. I Googled and found nothing, honestly

Thanks J for the info, just google his name on the Hinsdale Patch to find additional articles. Birds of a feather flock together.

Did Mike appeal the ruling? If it was so wrong as the cracker jack attorneys like Jennilin, J. Kennedy, Bob and P.Y.T. contend then he would easily win at the circuit court. When you are losing the argument, and elections, it is easy to slander everyone around Mr. Cunningham. You attack the board, the school district attorney and Cunningham's own lawyer. Get a grip!

Ken, as a few others have pointed out above, there's a lot to consider besides what the circuit court would do. I agree -- spend your energy getting out the message to get these four incumbents off the board in the next two election cycles! And if you read all of these blogs, it's cler. Cunningham is losing, not people opposed to him. And remember -- it ain't slander if it's true. Anyone that pays attention to Cunningham, Carmidy, Gentile and Zekich knows how poorly they've run the board. The school district attorney clearly had his marching orders at the hearing. And Cunningham's lawyer? J Kennedy just posted links to news stories about him. And the Illinois Courts already ruled they weren't slander, when Brennan tried to sue the media for writing about him.

Tommy,
Maybe you should read that case again because the court didn't rule that it wasn't slander. In fact, the court said that Kadner had certain rights as a journalist and the words he wrote could be innocently construed. The court never got to the issue of whether there was slander because Kadner hid behind a motion to protect himself from a trial in which he would have to defend his comments. Read the case before you make idiotic statements. Otherwise, at least put your logic to use by applying for a job with Kadner and his disappearing paper.

Tom,
Please read the case before making incorrect statements. The court didn't rule that it wasn't slander. In fact, the court ruled that Kadner had a shield as a journalist and regardless of whether it was slander or not, it didn't matter because as a journalist he was protected because his statements could be innocently construed. It is one in the long line of crazy decisions by Illinois courts. The case changed the way libel is viewed in Illinois and gave idiots the right to write things like Kadner does. But read the decision yourself and you won't find the court ever saying that Kadner didn't slander him. Instead, you will find Kadner didn't want a trial on the merits of whether or not he was guilty of slander. He hid behind his computer and the protection as a journalist. Think about that when you read his columns. As for Cunningham and the gang, lets see what the people decide. Commenters don't represent voters. Look at the siliiness on this site with "people" named Jennelin and J. Kennedy. They hide behind accusations rather than admitting that their guy just wasn't as good as Cunningham on this issue.

I've been watching the turn of events closely and I commend Mr. Carroll for challenging Mr. Cunningham's double dipping.

There is a gross conflict of interest if he was to be elected to both boards. What if Moraine wants to rent classroom space for satellite classes? What about the previously mentioned tutoring programs? What about student internship programs between Moraine and District 135? Believe it or not, community colleges can and do interact with grammar school districts. Mr. Cunningham needs to choose which board he wants to run for and drop the other one.

The money that this board has spent amazes me. I read that they increased District 135's portion of our property taxes when they didn't need to and then they blamed the teachers' contract? The cost of the lawsuit with the shadey hiriing was ridiculous!

I remember when District 135 Board President Carmody was running, it was a big issue because his kids go to St. Michael. If you're such an advocate for public school children, why are your kids in the Catholic school?

Where does Tom Cunningham live? Does he live in the district? Is he a homeowner in District 135? I'd like to know that.

Don't waste your time on an appeal, Mr. Carroll. Focus on getting elected to that board. You have my vote and I'm telling everyone I know in the district to vote for Mr. Carroll.

There are so many red flags with the current board, I hope all of you see them waving come Election Day.

Mr. Brennan -- I mean Mr. Mason and Mr. Nolan. I didn't have to be a Perry Mason to find out you're full of it. Here is a quote from the Appellate Court on your -- I mean Brennan's lawsuit against Kadner: "Since we find that the statement at issue is an expression of nonactionable opinion, we do not address whether it is reasonably susceptible to an innocent construction or is substantially true." They said the same thing later, on Count II of your lawsuit. You're wrong. The Court did say it wasn't slander. There was no hiding behind anything. Your case couldn't even get past a Motion to Dismiss! If I can see it after 10 seconds with Google, a "cracker jack lawyer" like you should be able to!

Tom Cunningham, while a "realtor", currently resides in a rental apartment within the Orand Park village limits.

The 135 board talked about back ground checks, I found this out about the Gentile’s. Her husband owned a company the took over $2 Million dollars from Illinois tax taxpayers. Click the website below.

http://www.icc.illinois.gov/docket/files.aspx?no=10-0379&docId=168549

Download Exhibit 2.0 – Dr. Qin Liu March 2011 Testimony

In total, IQT obtained $1,426,877 in federal low income support between January 1350 and November of 2010. Of this amount, it is properly eligible for only $1,271, 1351 which it received as facilities-based LEC. It is ineligible for $1,425,606, which it 1352 received as a reseller or for customers that it served through resale. Put 1353 differently, it is eligible for only 0.09%, but ineligible for 99.91%, of the 1354 $1,426,877 federal low income support amount requested and obtained during 1355 between January and November of 2010. 1356

The 135 board talked about back ground checks, I found this out about the Gentile’s. Her husband owned a company the took over $2 Million dollars from Illinois tax taxpayers. Click the website below

http://www.icc.illinois.gov/docket/files.aspx?no=10-0379&docId=168549

Download Exhibit 2.0 – Dr. Qin Liu June 29th 2011 Testimony

IQT has not managed both its Lifeline and Linkup Programs properly. It 2125 has made genuine efforts to get customers on the Lifeline program but has 2126 refused to make efforts to keep them on the program. In doing so, it has 2127 drained $1.2 million in federal Linkup support funds without much of the 2128 intended benefits to the customers, and has deprived 96% of the customers 2129 them of their eligibility for further Linkup support.

http://www.icc.illinois.gov/docket/files.aspx?no=10-0379&docId=168549

Download Exhibit 2.0 – Dr. Qin Liu June 29th 2011 Testimony

IQT has not managed both its Lifeline and Linkup Programs properly. It has made genuine efforts to get customers on the Lifeline program but has refused to make efforts to keep them on the program. In doing so, it has drained $1.2 million in federal Linkup support funds without much of the intended benefits to the customers, and has deprived 96% of the customers them of their eligibility for further Linkup support.