Supporting Unity Party A Practice At Bloom Schools: Employees

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL — Some employees at Bloom Township High School District 206 have been encouraged, and even "forced," to buy tickets to political fundraiser events where money raised is used to support the Unity Party of Bloom Township. That's according to two people who have worked for the school district, one current and one former employee.

In phone interviews with Chicago Heights Patch, the two sources more or less corroborated claims made by Anthony Romano, a former school district employee who sued the district more than three years ago after they denied him FMLA.

Romano, the plaintiff in the civil case, said that the Unity Party has "exerted significant influence" in employment decisions made at Bloom 206 and that he had been told by union officials "to become a member of the Unity Party, to make financial contributions to the Unity Party, and to become a fundraiser for the Unity Party by selling tickets to various events," according to court documents.

When Romano refused, he said in the complaint that he was demoted to the position of HVAC/Electrician and then denied FMLA when he requested time off to care for his father who had fallen ill.

It's unclear how the lawsuit was settled or whether practices at Bloom have changed since then, but one current employee says that top-ranking school administrators continue to push employees to buy tickets to the Unity Party political fundraisers.

The employee discussed an instance last summer where school officials met outside of work for an administrative retreat at a golf course in Chicago Heights.

A top school administrator told the employee "I need you to buy this ticket," the current employee says of the exchange.

"The superintendent handed (the administrator) an envelope to give to me and (the administrator) had a list of names on a checklist of who (the administrator) had to get to buy the tickets."

After the employee was approached by the administrator and replied by asking why the ticket needed to be bought, the administrator is alleged to have said: "I don't think you understand, this is not optional. You are lucky you only have to buy one."

According to a section of Illinois State Law, the description of "prohibited political activity" includes "being pressured to participate in any such political activities as a condition of employment."

The ticket the current employee bought last summer was for $45 and for a "Steak Fry" event to be held at Veterans Memorial Park in Glenwood that August.

All Bloom department chairs and administrators were present for the retreat that week, the employee said, and that the same administrator who approached and "forced" a ticket purchase was seen selling them to others as well.

A former Bloom 206 employee who remains close to those who currently work there says it's a "sell 'em or buy 'em" routine," where custodians who work for the school district are told they either have to buy the tickets themselves or find someone else to.

"They told me they need to sell the tickets to keep their jobs," the former employee said.

Communication with those still involved at the district indicates that it is mainly custodians, administrators and vendors who are pressured into buying and selling the tickets or donating to the Unity Party, the former employee said.

While the former employee hasn't worked at Bloom since earlier this decade when it was not known whether these practices were taking place, a connection has been made to Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez, who was elected in 2011 and has benefited financially from the school district.

Gonzalez' accounting firm, G.W. and Associates, has been reported by the Better Government Association as having received more than $20,000 from Bloom Township High School District 206 in contracts as of 2016. At that time, Bloom 206 was one of 22 municipal contracts yielding $2.1 million the Gonzalez-led firm had entered with in three years.

The current employee who talked to Patch says that another fundraiser for the Unity Party, headed by Gonzalez, is planned for June and that contact was made by a co-worker about whether or not the employee "got the white envelope."

"Which means 'did you get the ticket we are supposed to buy'," the employee said, adding that the supposed cost of the June fundraiser is $75.

Dr. Lenell Navarre, superintendent of Bloom 206, said in a statement to Patch that white envelopes are handed to administrators prior to a team-building golf outing "in which employees are given numbers and those numbers are collected in an envelope in an effort to randomly pair up employees on teams."

"We do not participate in political campaign fundraising as this is an illegal activity and does not stand to benefit the students and families we serve," Navarre said.

The current employee points to another past instance where politics was mixed with the school district. Last December, the current employee said "we had to buy either oranges or grapefruits to support them."

Navarre said the "oranges or grapefruits" the employee is referring to "relates to the Chicago Heights Rotary Club's annual citrus sale and not a political campaign fundraiser."

"No one was forced to buy fruit, though many of our administrators have happily supported the sale," he said.

The current employee says it's top-ranking officials at the school district who lead the charge in pushing the sale of the political fundraiser tickets.

Responding to an unannounced call from Patch, Rhona Israel — assistant superintendent of human resources at Bloom 206 — provided a brief response when asked if they were selling tickets to an upcoming fundraiser for the Unity Party in June.

"We sell," she began to say before firmly stating "No."

"We are a school district," she said. "Are you looking for the Township office?"

Israel said she is "not aware" of any practice at Bloom where employees are either forced or encouraged to sell tickets to political fundraisers.