Darien Store Caught In Crossfire Of Donation Debate

DARIEN, IL – Darien's new Burlington clothing store has found itself caught in a debate between Darien and longtime critics in a local school district.

When it opened the store last week, the national chain announced in a ribbon-cutting ceremony that it donated $5,000 to the Adopt-a-School program at Darien School District 61's Lace Elementary School.

The city of Darien released that information on its Facebook page, drawing heat from its critics in Center Cass School District 66.

They suggest the city may have encouraged the chain to give money to Darien District 61, rather than Center Cass.

City officials denied that.

The Darien district, Center Cass and Cass District 63 serve Darien residents. Center Cass' main office is in Downers Grove, while the other two are Darien-based.

Darien's relationship with Center Cass has been tense at times.

That situation started, in part, a few years ago when Alderman Eric Gustafson publicly opposed the district's proposed property tax hike. On the other hand, the mayor and the other six aldermen did not state a position.

On Monday, resident Nikki Giancola-Shanks, who ran for the Center Cass board in 2023, emailed Darien officials, questioning the city's role in the donation.

She noted the city last year created a tax increment financing district, or TIF, for the Chestnut Court shopping center, where Burlington is.

In such a tax district, the property tax money generated from the growth in the real estate's value over the next 23 years goes to the district itself, rather than other taxing bodies, including Center Cass.

In making its case, the city pointed out that the largely vacant shopping center's value has been dropping for years. It argued that without the tax district, the value would continue to fall.

In response to Darien's post, Brian Liedtke, president of the Center Cass board, welcomed Burlington to the community.

"What a generous donation, but it would have been nice to consider the actual Darien elementary school located within that business's actual tax base/ward limits," he wrote, referring to Elizabeth Ide Elementary.

In her email, Giancola-Shanks said Burlington decided to donate to a school that is unimpacted by the tax district.

"My past experience has taught me that these types of gestures from a business are not done in a vacuum, but rather in tandem with city and school officials," Giancola-Shanks said. "The Facebook post where you celebrate the ribbon-cutting shows how many in CCSD 66 community feel – we feel ignored and forgotten."

The email was sent to Mayor Joseph Marchese, City Administrator Bryon Vana and Gustafson, who represents the ward in question.

In response, the city said it was not consulted about the contribution beforehand. It said April Padalik, director of the city-run Darien Business Alliance, was unaware of the donation until she saw District 61 officials present at the ribbon-cutting.

At Monday's City Council meeting, Marchese noted the social media complaints.

"One person even alleged that Darien was favoring certain public schools over others," he said, adding it wasn't true.

In response to Patch's inquiry Tuesday, Giancola-Shanks said in an email, "I did respond to the city and thanked them for the clarification. I have no reason to believe anything other than what they told me, which is why I emailed them for the clarification."