The old-school way the school board race was won Victorious RB candidates used shoe leather and money to triumphBy BOB SKOLNIKContributing Reporter
Mike Welch and Dan Moon each rang about 1,200 doorbells in their campaign for seats on the Riverside Brookfield High School District 208 school board. One thing they found out talking to voters is that it wasn't always so important who they were, what mattered most was who they were not.
"One of the questions they asked was 'are you the incumbent' and when I said no several people would answer 'well that's good enough for me,'" Welch recalled a few days after the election.
Welch, Moon, and Matt Sinde rode unhappiness over recent controversies at RB to a convincing victory knocking off two incumbents and independent candidate Eric Duve on their way to a solid victory capturing all thee seats at stake on the school board in last week's election.
Talking to voters Welch said it became clear that many were unhappy with events at RB over the last year. Much of the displeasure was centered on RB Superintendent/Principal Jack Baldermann and on school finances.
"When I went door-to-door there's not one door that asked the ultimate question, 'this board's doing a good job, why should we hire you'" Welch said. "When I went door-to-door the two names that came up most often were Jack Baldermann and [school board president] Larry Herbst. That's what the community was telling us."
Some were impressed that a candidate would knock on their door.
"One gentleman said that no one had ever come to his home in 40 years for the school board," Welch said.
But it wasn't just ringing door bells that won the race for Welch, Sinde, and Moon, who ran as a team and called themselves the SWiM team.
Their campaign was well funded and well organized. It had roots in the school board campaign two years ago of Jim Marciniak, Chris Robling and David Hilpp who also ran as a team. Although Marciniak was the only one of the three to get elected from that slate, many of the same people who supported Marciniak, Robling and Hilpp, most notably former Riverside village trustee Jerry Buttimer, supported Welch, Sinde and Moon this time around.
Although Buttimer tried to stay in the background and likes to minimize his role in the campaign he clearly was a key organizer and strategist in the campaign. The victory party for Welch, Sinde and Moon was held in the well appointed basement of Buttimer's beautiful Riverside home.
Buttimer helped recruit Sinde to the campaign. Sinde, a Brookfield resident, played an important part in the campaign.
Although Sinde, the long time chairman of the Brookfield Zoning Board of Appeals, could not campaign door to door like Welch and Moon because he is still recovering from hip replacement surgery last year, he brought deep Brookfield roots and political connections that Riverside residents Welch and Moon lacked.
In addition to the door to door campaigning, which was concentrated in Brookfield and other areas of the district where Welch and Moon were unknown, the three winners appeared before about two dozen community groups including Kiwanis, Rotary clubs and PTA's to spread their message. They visited the British Home to seek the votes of seniors.
With drive, money, and a community upset about events at RB Welch, Sinde and Moon overwhelmed their dispirited opposition. Incumbents Laura Hruska and Karen Bensfield did little campaigning and spent no money. Bensfield, who finished fourth, was aided by the support of the VIP party on her home turf of North Riverside where she racked up big margins but it wasn't enough to overcome the huge margins Welch, Sinde and Moon racked up in Riverside and their smaller margins in Brookfield.
Bensfield said that the controversies about Baldermann were tough for her to overcome. "Every thing with him was a big part of the election." Bensfield said.
She said that she doubted if anything she could have done would have made much of a difference in the outcome. "There was so much negative press, just about RB in general, for the last what month, two months," Bensfield said. "I looked at it like the national election. They were going to get rid of the old and bring in the new."
Eric Duve tried to position himself as an independent candidate, but he was overwhelmed and finished last. He said that the Improve- RB candidates may have raised the standard of what it takes to win an RB school board race.
"I spent a grand total of $30 for printer ink and I now realize I didn't have a chance, no matter how qualified I was," Duve said. "I'm not bitter, I'm not angry. They were well organized and well financed."
Welch, Sinde and Moon did spend money, more money than in any recent District 208 race. They formed a political committee called Improve - RB and raised more than $2,000 for the campaign. Welch, an I.R.S. agent assigned to the United State's Attorney's office said he kicked in about $1,200 of his own money for the campaign.
"I thought it was that important that if I were to be involved I would be committed to doing the right thing and running a good campaign," Welch said.
Moon said that he contributed $600 to Improve - RB and spent perhaps a couple hundred dollars more on supplies. Sinde declined to say how much he contributed.
"I'd like to hold off until we get all the bills paid," Sinde said.
Stan Czerwien, the treasurer of Improve - RB campaign committee, and the man who brought Sinde to Buttimer's attention, said on Sunday that he was aware of about $2,100 in contributions and about $1,500 in spending on the campaign but said that all the bills have not been paid and more contributions may still need to be collected. The Improve - RB committee was formed in March, but didn't file its report with the Illinois State Board of Elections until April 8, the day after the election.
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