3 Hinsdale D86 Hopefuls Won't Attend Forum: Organizers

BURR RIDGE, IL – Three of the five candidates for the Hinsdale High School District 86 board are not planning to take part in a candidate forum Saturday in Burr Ridge.

The forum is set in the Hinsdale South zone. It's possible no one on the board after the April 4 election will live in that area.

A new group called Community Collective is holding the event. The organizers are former District 86 board member TJ Edwards and Ericka Polanco-Webb.

Candidates Asma Akhras of Darien and Deborah Clare Willoughby of Westmont are slated to attend. Akhras is the only candidate who lives in the South zone.

Not attending are Catherine Greenspon of Burr Ridge, Andrew Catton of Hinsdale and Kay Gallo of Clarendon Hills.

Greenspon has a family issue, while Gallo has a meet-and-greet to attend, organizers said. They said they are not sure why Catton is not going.

The organizers said they sent an invitation last month. The forum is set for 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, with an hour-long reception afterward. The event is at a house; residents can register on this website.

In an interview, Edwards said the group is disappointed that it will not get more participation, but "we'll forge ahead."

Polanco-Webb said Community Collective is not a political group.

"We're a people group," Polanco-Webb said in an interview. "The event is not to drive a political view. It's trying to get information to the community."

Both organizers live in the South zone.

In the invitation to candidates, Community Collective said it plans to discuss issues in seven categories: diversity, equity and inclusion; curriculum alignment; the district administration's leadership; capacity levels at both schools and boundaries; the district's financial health; accessibility, performance and achievement gaps; and unity in the district.

When Patch contacted Gallo on Thursday, she confirmed the reason that the organizers gave. She later issued a lengthy statement in the comments to this story.

"Since I was unable to make inquiries, I asked a friend and they made numerous inquiries, on my behalf, to an e-mail address which had been advertised on the original post that was being circulated. The e-mail would not deliver. Apparently, the address had been 'temporarily hacked' delaying the contact.

"I had a few questions about this event, so I had my friend inquire, again, on my behalf. One question I wanted answered was who were the founders. The 'Community Collective' replied, but was still remaining anonymous. The answer to my question about the founders was 'You will meet them at the event (we hope you can attend).' I was completely taken aback. The invitation was sent from an anonymous entity, no personal names, to go to an anonymous location.

"In this day and age, when volunteer school board members across the country trying to fulfill their civic duty are threatened with harm, to believe a candidate will accept such an invitation is naïve to say the least. I hope individuals in the community are not trying to 'spin' this as a snub.

"Trying to find the positive, I thank these 2 community members on trying to organize an event such as this, but they fell short by remaining secretive until this article. It is unfortunate I had already been scheduling events starting on January 4, their misspelling of my campaign e-mail address, how late the invitation was sent and the lack of transparency of this 'group.' I invite the D86 community to view my webpage – http://www.Gallo4D86.com to read about my platform.

"If you would also like to see how I conduct myself in public, visit the D86 board meeting video archive website at https://vimeo.com/user9373008/videos to search on videos from 2011 to April 2017 when I was on the board. I was board president from May 2015 to April 2017. I hope the other candidates believe as I do, to do the best for ALL students, not just those that attend one school over another."

Community Collective responded with a statement Friday morning: "A few things to note. We find it interesting that Kay was very preoccupied with who was hosting and not with whether her availability was free. Not one time throughout the entire communication that Community Collective was having with her representative Yvonne Mayer did her representative state that, unfortunately Kay cannot attend because she’s already booked and has been booking dates since Jan 4. Instead she sent a list of questions regarding clarifying the event. Quite odd right? Why go through the exercise of collecting information for an event you don’t have the availability to attend. Moreover, this constant gaslighting on “who is community collective” is just ridiculous. It shouldn’t matter who started the organization. It’s ridiculous and distracting.

"During the discussion with Kay in person at the end of the board meeting, it was acknowledged that there was a typo in the spelling of her name that delayed her invitation yet again never did she say, sorry I’m already confirmed for another event and I can’t make it. She understood the oversight and was pleasant. Not sure about other community members but I’m sure we’ve all been asked to take meetings that we didn’t have the control of time and place and we move around our calendars to accommodate, I’m sure we’ve all attended events with speakers, concerts or conferences and the date is the date! As previously stated we are looking forward to the discussion with the two candidates that are willing to show up Saturday and spend time with the community and we wish those that chose not to attend the best."