Was Farkas' School Board Candidacy Unfairly Rejected?

Glen Farkas, 44, a 10-year resident of Glenview, recently petitioned to appear on Glenview's April election ballot as a District 34 school board candidate, but a missing paper clip in his application was enough for the school district election board to reject his petition, the Chicago Tribune reported in January. 

The April ballot will include the current school board president Chris Northwick, along with incumbent board members John "Jack" Murphy and Cathe Russe, according to the Tribune's January story. 

“This is pretty sad and disturbing that I was taken off the ballot," Farkas told the Glenview Announcements regarding the rejected application. "I’m active in the community and I have two children in District 34."

But a recent email acquired by the Chicago Tribune suggests Murphy and Martha O'Connell, the president of Glenview School Board District 34 Caucus, worked together to find objects against Farkas.

The Caucus is a group of Glenview residents who vet and nominate community members for school board elections. Based on the latest Tribune report, the organization meant to nominate qualified community members to participate in the school board, may have collaborated with incumbent school board members to eliminate the competition. 

After "talking with Jack" and "an attorney specializing in election law, they all say that not binding the petitions will kill their candidacies. That is our No. 1 objection," O'Connell's email read, according to the Tribune. 

It begs the question: is the caucus judging candidates by their paper clips or their qualifications as community leaders?

Farkas ran against Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) for the Illinois 9th District Senate seat in November, which Biss won. 

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