Crime & Safety

Who Paid for the Third Fiscal Voices Orland Fire District Robocall?

A complaint filed with the state election board claims that Fiscal Voices for Orland did not file a payment or in-kind contribution record for a third robocall. FVO says that's because someone else paid for the call, and it has nothing to do with them.

People agree that leading up to the April 2011 election, at least three robocalls went out endorsing Fiscal Voices for Orland candidates in the race for the Board of Trustees. They don’t agree on where one of those calls came from.

In September 2011, Orland Firefighter Keith Radke filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections, claiming that a robocall endorsing current trustees Blair Rhode and Chris Evoy falsely stated that it was paid for by “Orland Firefighters.” The complaint also claims FVO did not disclose payment or contribution to cover that call’s costs.

The Illinois State Board of Education recently agreed to move the complaint to a public hearing, after a motion filed to dismiss was not approved. No date has been set yet for the public hearing.

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“We are just looking for the truth in this matter,” Radke wrote in an email.  “We do not want other people using our hard work and good standing in this community to be used in this manner.”

Attorney Keith Karlson, who was brought on to represent firefighters, said, “in no way did Orland Professional Firefighters Local 2754 endorse (Rhode and Evoy).”

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Molly McAvoy Flynn filed the motion to dismiss the complaint on behalf of FVO, citing that counts in the complaint are “erroneous” or “fatally flawed,” according to the document. The dismiss motion reads that the political group paid for two robocalls – both with language that said “paid for by Fiscal Voices for Orland” at the end – and were not involved with the one referred to in Radke’s complaint.

“The alleged robocall was not made in connection, consultation, or concert with or at the request or suggestion of, or with the permission of Fiscal Voice for Orland,” Flynn wrote in her motion. “Since Fiscal Voices for Orland made no independent expenditure, there is no requirement that Fiscal Voice of Orland file a report of independent expenditure.”

The complaint names Rhode and Evoy along with FVO, thought the two trustees said they played no role in any of the robocall arrangements.

“The financial documents are in order,” Evoy said. “We paid for two robocalls only, and all of our paperwork was done properly.”

Rhode described the complaint as “highly political.”

Radke said Rhode and Evoy were still individually named in the complaint because “they were the candidates advocated in the robocall and they are ultimately responsible for their campaign.”

Both of the calls recorded as paid for by Fiscal Voices for Orland were made with women’s voices, while the call cited in Radke’s complaint was made by a man.

Read on for more Orland Fire Protection District stories. 


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