November 13, 2012
Dear President Blahunka,
I am a 3-decade resident of District 65. Over the last
decade I have seen the School Board take a series of actions contrary to the
apparent sentiment of district residents. And so, on November 4th I wrote this letter:
65.pxxq.com/letter.html
Incidentally, two months earlier I had written about
the Lake Forest High School teachers strike here:
lfhs.pxxq.com
The reaction I got was that District 65 board members
come and go but the School Caucus may be the underlying cause. I found your
website and noted that you have a vacancy in my area. I wrote to the President
and Secretary whose email addresses I found on your website and received no
response. So I telephoned Jennifer Gleason, whom I had just met, and Mollie
Mercado, whom I had known for years.
My only expressed interest was in “process”, not
candidates. I never asked for “candidate information” of anyone. I didn’t care
that I would not be able to vote and I didn’t even know who the candidates were
when I made those four inquiries. I learned that interviews were scheduled and I
wanted to be an invited observer.
I have not had any interaction with Mrs. Foss for
years. On the morning of the Monday interviews she sent the following to all of
you, but not to me:
CC: cerz60@comcast.net; sheilanelson@comcast.net;
kohara65@comcast.net; mariejosephitis@yahoo.com; intermedia@sbcglobal.net;
naughton@mx.lakeforest.edu; dwagenknecht@comcast.net; jhg25@sbcglobal.net;
joymm73@yahoo.com; kurt-lauren@prodigy.net; kathleenmreidy@gmail.com;
jdrosa@earthlink.net; katydid0806@hotmail.com; driverlake@hotmail.com;
dpco1@aol.com; huszagh3@comcast.net; bluetoedmom@hotmail.com;
an3trandai@yahoo.com; david.forlow@wfadvisors.com; andy.schumacher1@gmail.com;
deb.dintruff@comcast.net From: lfoss621@sbcglobal.net Subject: Re: Caucus
interviews
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2012 07:24:08 -0600
To: blahunka@comcast.net
All,
I worked with Don Russ in Cub Scouts. Perhaps you have
seen him riding through town on his motorcycle with a large US flag flying from
the back. He is a challenging person with a strong far-right agenda. He has been
belligerent in situations where others have disagreed. Tread lightly with him.
Have a great day!
Lynette Foss
How charming.
I understand that a red, white and blue flag is a red
flag for some people. To clarify, over the last seven years I have participated
in 182 military funeral escorts, nearly all of them KIA (killed in action)
funerals of American warriors who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are
documented here:
pgr.pxxq.com
I have also been “riding through town on his
motorcycle with a large US flag flying from the back” at the last two Lake Bluff
Fourth of July Parades. An image from the most recent Parade Book is here:
pgr.pxxq.com/LakeBluff.html
My threatening flag-waving has even reached into our
school. On Friday of the interview week, I organized a Lake Bluff Cub Scout
flag-raising at Lake Bluff Elementary School, which is documented on their
website here:
pack42.com/2012veteransday.html
So I was mindful that you all had been warned of my
“far-right agenda” when I heard a candidate asked about “getting rid of
teachers”. I was mindful that you all had been warned to “tread lightly” with me
when one of you approached me before the Wednesday interviews and told me that I
should get her permission before I mention her name.
And I was mindful of her previous calumny when Mrs.
Foss sent me an
unsolicited email, copied to the Caucus
President, in which she informed me that, “I would guess that the group would not welcome your
participation after this blatant show of hostility, but it doesn't appear to me
as if you really want to be a part of it anyway.”
So, to recap:
1 my inquiries to the two email addresses listed on
your website went initially unanswered, and
2 your President, whom I had never met, in
communicating to all of you, but not to me, about how she turned down a
request I never made described it as “weird”, and
3 Mrs. Foss communicated to all of you about me
without my knowledge, which very few of you forwarded to me, and
4 an improper question was asked of a candidate
Monday, and
5 a member told me just before the Wednesday
interviews that she expected me to get her permission before I mention her name,
and
6 an improper question was asked of a candidate
Wednesday night, and
7 Mrs. Foss communicated to me for all of you
saying that I was not welcome, and
8 the only thing I have ever said at any of your
meetings was to ask for my coat so that I could leave it.
My preliminary conclusion: Yes indeed, your “process”
could stand a little more observation.
Most sincerely and respectfully,
Don Russ