La Grange 102 Official Called 'Hypocrite'

LA GRANGE, IL — A La Grange School District 102 board member called one of his colleagues "kind of a hypocrite" over the weekend.

School board Vice President Ed Campbell brought up the issue on Facebook. He was responding to member Brian Anderson's assertion that a district nurse gave Campbell leads for his coronavirus testing business.

Last fall, Campbell volunteered his time to start the district's lab for coronavirus testing. In mid-September, he formed a business to provide the same service to other districts.

Anderson and member Bessie Boyd said Campbell used information from District 102's testing program to build his business, SafeGuard Surveillance. According to District 102, the business entered contracts with at least 30 districts.

Anderson raised the issue of the nurse giving leads to Campbell at last week's school board meeting. In response, Campbell, an immunologist, said he answered questions from other districts that needed help during a pandemic.

Campbell took his arguments further on La Grange Patch's Facebook page over the weekend. Campbell suggested Patch should write a story with the headline, "Board member accusing nurse of misconduct guilty of the same act." (Anderson directed his comments toward Campbell during the meeting and did not accuse the nurse of misconduct.)

In Facebook posts, Campbell said Anderson, an executive with Duracell, introduced him to his colleagues at the company, where Campbell got a contract.

"I flew down to (Georgia), got paid a consulting fee, so set up testing there," Campbell said. "Did Brian Anderson feed me clients? (Is) there anything wrong with sending people that need help to someone that can help them? No. But when you impugn someone else for that same thing you did, I think that's a problem. What's the word for that?"

In another post on La Grange Patch, Campbell provided the word he was seeking — "hypocrite."

"It sounds like Brian is 'guilty' of the same crime, and kind of a hypocrite for attacking a nurse who was trying to help others, while Brian was trying to help himself," Campbell said. "Is that a story, by whatever standard this is a story? When was Brian going to inform the board of that?"

In an interview Monday, Anderson said he was appreciative of the help that Campbell provided Duracell. He said his company entered a contract with Campbell, not SafeGuard Surveillance.

Anderson said he referred Campbell's name as someone who may be able to help Duracell. But Anderson said he was not involved in the contract negotiations.

At last week's board meeting, Campbell said his biggest objection was that Campbell formed his company in mid-September, but did not tell the board about this development until the Oct. 29 board meeting, about six weeks later.

Federal investigators also looked into the issue of whether Campbell personally gained from his role at District 102. The inquiry was closed last week, with an investigator saying the government could find no evidence of wrongdoing.

At last week's board meeting, attorney Darcy Kriha cleared Campbell of any wrongdoing. But because she is the board's regular lawyer, Boyd and Anderson are calling for an independent investigation.

Meanwhile, the board's majority is standing behind Campbell, calling the problem nothing worse than a breakdown in communications.