HUBBLE TEAM OF BOVIS/LEGAT SUED FOR FAULTY SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION

As reported in the Daily Herald (8/25/08), District 200's Hubble construction team of Legat Architects and Bovis Lend-Lease is being sued by Lake Zurich School District 95 over the faulty design and construction of two school buildings.  This is not the first such lawsuit for Legat, which was previously sued by Gavin School District 37 (also in Lake County) because of faulty roof trusses in another school; that case was eventually settled.  At our own Wheaton-Warrenville South High School construction site, for which Bovis was the construction manager, a construction worker for a subcontractor died in 2005 as a result of unsafe practices on the job site.  The District has never properly acknowledged this tragedy.

Neither Bovis nor Legat has been held liable for the construction flaws or the death.  However, regardless of legal liability, these firms exercised significant oversight over the projects in question, and it is troubling that any school would be permitted to open with what were later determined to be significant safety hazards.

The District 200 school board gave the Hubble work to Bovis and Legat without any type of competitive process - bidding, requests for proposal, or even consideration of other vendors. 

VICTORY IN FOIA LAWSUIT

The appellate court has just re-issued its opinion in my lawsuit seeking disclosure of former District 200 superintendent Dr. Gary Catalani's employment contract.  The opinion is available on the Download Files page or on the Appellate Court web site.  The court also denied the District's petition for rehearing.

This is a victory for public access to government records.  The appellate court unanimously reversed the trial court and rejected the District's claim that any document contained in a personnel file is per se exempt from FOIA.  The appellate court sent the case back to the trial court so that the trial court could view the contract and decide if any portion of it either (1) does not relate to the superintendent's official duties, or (2) would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy if disclosed.  We believe it will be difficult for the District to show either of those things, so most if not all of the contract should eventually be disclosed (we're now coming up on 2 1/2 years since this all started).  There are other legal steps the District can take, such as trying to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, so I can't predict the exact course the case will take, but it is now fairly clear that the District cannot continue to withhold the contract.

About This Site

I am a District 200 resident, homeowner, and taxpayer, married to Amy.  Like most of you, my home is my largest investment, and good schools are vital to our community.  However, we must be good stewards of this resource and live within our means so our legacy to our children is not a school district in financial crisis.  I am currently working with Friends of the Taxpayers to educate the community about all the facts pertaining to the District's upcoming tax increase referendum.

In April 2005, I ran for District 200 School Board as the only non-incumbent candidate.  Although I was not elected, 46.6% of voters included me on their ballots.  As a private citizen and taxpayer, I continue to attend Board meetings, representing myself and the concerns of the over 5,200 citizens who voted for me.  I am a founding member of the EDUCATE 200 Foundation (see EDUCATE 200 page).  I am also currently serving as a volunteer member of the District's Citizens Finance Committee, which has been charged with assisting the Board in evaluating desired curriculum goals for our schools, based on community surveys, and evaluating available financial resources to fund them.

In 2007, I again ran for school board, along with Betty Welker and Paul Yousif.  Although we were not elected, we again demonstrated that thousands of district voters don't feel they are being represented by the current board.  As private citizens, we will remain involved in district issues and continue to work for the best possible schools.

The issues I raised during my campaigns have not gone away.  I am continuing to speak out on them, and I am maintaining this web site as a service to raise public awareness of and provide an independent perspective on District 200 issues.  I welcome any feedback or questions; please feel free to contact me.

Education

I am a graduate of public schools (K-12), the University of Illinois (B.A., History, 1993) and the University of Chicago Law School (Juris Doctor, 1996).

Professional

I am an attorney in private practice, a partner in a Chicago law firm, and have represented individuals and small businesses since 1996. 

I have served as counsel for boards of a number of non-profit charitable organizations, and have also worked with several units of local government in areas such as governance, municipal finance/bond issuance, freedom of information and open meetings act compliance, tax levy/truth-in-taxation, and contracting issues.

I am admitted to practice before the Illinois Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States District Courts for the Central and Northern Districts of Illinois, and the United States Tax Court.

Note about this website:  Each page lists the date on which information was most recently added/modified.  This page last updated March 13, 2008.