D46 Board Member Facing More Fallout From Ethics Violations

Sue Facklam already has been censured by the  school board, but she is still experiencing fallout over an investigation by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office that revealed she violated the state’s election code by giving high school students gift cards for registering to vote for her in the April 2011 school board elections.

While her conduct constituted a Class 4 felony, the state’s attorney’s office declined to prosecute. She later was censured by the . A couple of board members called for her resignation, but Facklam refused to step down.

In a letter to Patch, Facklam stated:

“I strongly disagree with their opinion that I broke the law. I did not do anything wrong by giving two $5 gift cards that I already had to a family friend and her friend. The gift cards were not given in exchange for anything.”

Facklam also said she was proud of her contributions on the D46 boundary committee, D127 discipline committee and the parent advisory committee of Grayslake Central High School, and that she would continue to serve the students and community.

NEW OUTCRY

Though board meetings have been relatively quiet since the November censure, the first meeting of the new year on Jan. 4 brought a new outcry.

Board member Kip Evans requested Facklam be removed from any committees in which she serves as representative of the district, including the . Evans also wants Facklam removed as board secretary.

“I am speaking for myself,” said Evans. “She doesn’t represent me, and I’d like to see the positions she holds given to others.”

Facklam had no comment.

Evans also criticized that the board’s vote to censure Facklam at a meeting he did not attend was essentially meaningless.

“What the heck does that mean?” Evans asked of the censure. “We didn’t even slap her hand.”

A vote on whether to remove Facklam from her committees and reassign the duties to other board members is expected to be on the Jan. 18 agenda. The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at .