First reported at wednesdajournalonline.com
The Citizens for Progressive Action Party has raised nearly $70,000-an unprecedented figure-for its Oak Park village trustee candidates running in the April 17 election, according to state records.
Individual contributions alone account for more than $44,000. The CPA is the slate selected by the long-established Village Manager Association.
New Leadership ’07 has raised approximately $18,000. Neither party expects to raise major funds before the election.
Two years ago when the NLP swept elections for three trustee seats, it spent $37,316.78. The lion’s share of its fundraising came in the form of loans and in-kind contributions from two wealthy Oak Parkers.
That affected how the Citizens for Progressive Action campaign approached fundraising, said Lynn Kamenitsa, co-chair of the CPA campaign this year.
“We set our sights higher,” she said. “We are frankly floored by the response.”
The Illinois State Board of Elections requires campaign contributions to be recorded on D-2 forms, the latest versions of which were filed March 31. Contributions are published on the election board’s website.
The VMA’s windfall has raised the eyebrows of the party’s foes and raised suspicions about where the money came from and what it’s being used for.
Nile Wendorf, campaign manager for New Leadership ’07, said the CPA is allowing special economic interests to “buy” the election, he said. The NLP does not accept donations from “people who do business in the village” to avoid “the appearance of impropriety.”
For example, apartment building owners who’ve made donations could later benefit from decisions the board makes on the village’s diversity assurance housing program.
“I don’t see any of these people asking for special treatment,” Kamenitsa said. “Downtown business owners are indeed concerned [about the upcoming election].”
She said downtown business contributors have been upset by the decisions and “lack of decisions” made by the village board since 2005.
Asked to clarify from whom New Leadership would not accept contributions, Wendorf said, “I don’t think there’s a tight definition,” but someone who could receive money from the tax increment financing (TIF) district or through housing programs should not make political contributions, he said.
A Wednesday Journal analysis of the CPA contributions shows the party received approximately $15,000 from business and commercial property interests, including $2,500 from downtown property owner Anthony Shaker, $1,700 from Lake Theatre owner Willis Johnson, $1,000 from apartment building owner Bill Planek, and $1,000 from developer Alex Troyanovsky (through his company Regency Development Group LLC).
Records show Downtown Oak Park Executive Director Pat Zubak, who also lives in Oak Park, made two personal contributions totaling $775 to the CPA. “They’ve been very visible,” Zubak said. “I was invited to a fundraiser, and I went.”
She said the donations were from her and her husband, Algis Sereika, an engineer for Exelon. The donations bear her name only because of the checking account used, she said.
The donations were unrelated to her position with DTOP and do not represent an endorsement from the business organization, she said.
“We gave as residents,” Zubak said. “I think it’s important as a citizen to not only vote on election day, but also to put your money where your vote is.”
Kamenitsa said that even without the business and real estate people’s $15,000-a figure she disputes-the CPA still out-raised New Leadership. In fact, the CPA has raised $11,330 in “not-itemized” contributions, which are donations that are less than $150.
She said more than 350 individuals have donated to the CPA campaign.
Wendorf gave Wednesday Journal a complete list of all New Leadership donors. Asked to do the same, Kamenitsa demurred, saying some who donated less than $150-the amount below which donations do not have to be itemized on the state report-asked to remain anonymous, and she did not know if others felt the same.
“I have no idea what’s in people’s hearts when they give less than $150,” she said, noting that three-fourths of donors gave less than $150.
The Vision Community Action party, which is also slating trustee candidates, has raised $4,180.
Wendorf is also worried about the influence the CPA can have with so much money. “With $70,000, there’s nothing they can’t afford to do,” Wendorf said.
The total raised at the end of the first quarter of 2007 was $68,280.20, which includes a $12,500 in-kind contribution from the “Village Managers Association.”
Records show the payment was for “polling results” from Lemont-based Fako & Associates. Wendorf said the poll “is one example of spending to get what you want and shaping public opinion.”
According to the company’s website, “Your poll should be a comprehensive strategic game plan that identifies strategies, messages and targets … essentially becoming the ‘playbook’ for your campaign.”
Wendorf and others say the VMA in January conducted a “push” poll, a form of negative campaigning that poses as a poll but is designed to spread misinformation.
Kamenitsa bristled at the suggestion.
“If you’re going to do a push poll, you don’t do it three months before the election,” she said. That type of smear campaign would be done more like the week before an election, she said.
The poll the VMA commissioned was a benchmark poll, designed to gauge the support for parties and messages, and to see what will resonate with people-both positively and negatively.
Dave Fako, president of Fako & Associates, agreed. “It’s essentially market research for campaigns,” he said.
Fako does not conduct push polls. “They discredit what I do,” he said. “We’re a research firm.”
Wendorf also noted that the Citizens for Progressive Action hired an outside strategist, Jeff Riley, of Gragert Research in Chicago.
Riley said he “kind of helped [the CPA] talk through their campaign plan.”
Gragert Research conducted a poll for the VMA last summer-more of a series of focus groups, Kamenitsa said-to test the party’s ongoing viability. Kamenitsa said the campaign plan was written before Riley arrived in January, and that the slate decided not to use Riley’s services after about a month’s part-time consulting work.
Wendorf expects New Leadership will hit its fundraising goal of $20,000 to $25,000. That goal was considerably reduced from what the party spent in 2005 because its leaders knew not to rely as heavily on Brian Farrar and Craig Williams, who together gave $28,592.28 to that campaign.
Kamenitsa said that, if anything, taking so much money from two people represented special interests buying an election.
“Those two people happened to be citizens who wanted to be sure [the party’s] message got out,” Wendorf responded. “They never had an economic interest in this village.”
Developer Dave Lehman contributed $2,000 to the New Leadership campaign. Lehman doesn’t develop in Oak Park, Wendorf said.
Farrar and Williams, who to date have not donated to the campaign except for a $615 in-kind contribution from Farrar, will likely give some money, Wendorf said. He did not expect either to top the party’s donors list, though.
Neither Farrar nor Williams replied to requests for comment.
CONTACT: dcarter@wjinc.com