District 300 Board Replacement – From Home School Dad Referendum Opponent to School Employee Tax Hiker

The difference could not be much more stark.

And the trend of having those with connections to school districts on area boards continues.

John Ryan

In 2007 home school Dad and referendum opponent John Ryan won an upset victory, defeating school board member Mary Fioretti. After her defeat, the former Bill LeFew-appointed Republican precinct committeeman (Algonquin 63, according to the 200708 County Yearbook) had a front yard sign for Barack Obama.

Ryan, who successfully championed rules to limit what in Illinois is called “pay-to-play” campaign contributions to tax hike committees like Advance 300, recently resigned he took a job which would make meeting attendance difficult.

Karen Plaza

Striking is the support for more government taxes reported in the Daily Herald of Karen Plaza, selected by remaining board members to fill Ryan’s seat.

Eight times from 1998-2007, she worked on tax hike committees like Advance 300.

On the plus side is that she has a working knowledge of school finance. She was the one selected to plug the extracurricular activities funding hole (“the (money) has been stolen,” was in Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Crates’ 7-8-6 memo on the subject) discovered in District 300. Next, she worked for an out-of-area school district before being hired as Crystal Lake District 47’s Director of Finance.

The new school board member’s husband is Lake in the Hill Village President Ed Plaza.


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