By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
At a recent Elmhurst City Council meeting, two different residents took part in public forum to share their experience of holding a meeting at the Elmhurst Public Library. Both expressed a concern that they had been victims of discrimination, due to their affiliation with the group known as EPIC, or Elmhurst Parents for Integrity in Curriculum.
The focus of the meeting is called the “Right to Parent Ballot Initiative,” keeping an eye on legislation that could potentially strip away parental rights, citing HB4876 as an example. On this issue, EPIC appears to be aligned with a group called the Parents Matter Coalition out of Wheaton, whose mission it is to gather 500,000 signatures of Illinois registered voters on the petition.
Dave Zurkowski, a 20-year resident who lives on the 200 block of North Oaklawn, was the first speaker to address City Council in public forum.
“We had a meeting room to have people come in and sign petitions,” he said. “We are looking to add some verbiage to the ballot in the next election. We were told we weren’t allowed to sign petitions in the library. I’m not sure if that’s true, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.”
Zurkowski said that a day or two prior to their meeting, Elmhurst Public Library (EPL) executive director Mary Beth Harper and Marsha Baker, president of the Library Board of Trustees, had sent emails advising library staff that the person reserving the room was a member of a group called EPIC and a new parents’ rights group.
“I don’t know what this would have to do with anything, whatever group it is, it shouldn’t have any bearing on using the room,” Zurkowski said.
The following day, another memo was sent to staff indicating that the meeting information had been posted on facebook. According to Zurkowski, the memo read, “I have assured that people know about this.”
“I don’t know who would have to know about this,” he questioned. “Who is it that had to be assured that this would be handled in a certain way? It seems suspicious to me, maybe on the topic of this petition, which was really a yes-or-no question for parents concerned with parents’ rights.
“I want everybody to know that there seems to be more to this than what meets the eye.”
Zurkowski went on to say they were turned away from a business on Spring Road and ended up back at the library. He had arrived for the meeting after the group had already departed for the library, so he asked the manager what happened.
“He was very nice, a little evasive,” Zurkowski said, “but then told me, ‘we’re just not going to have those kinds of events here.’ I don’t know how he would have known what the meeting was or why it spooked him.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s a level playing field. Why was our meeting seemingly targeted a few days in advance?”
Resident Tom Chavez spoke next, echoing Zurkowski’s concerns. Chavez read from a list he obtained from the American Library Association’s web site, commenting on how the Elmhurst Library had failed in each item on the list, in his opinion.
“’The Library should promote the free exchange of ideas and offer information whenever possible,’” Chavez read from the list. “That was a ‘fail.’”
Chavez, who is a frequent speaker at public forum at School District 205 Board meetings, made several mentions of emails he had exchanged with Mayor Scott Levin over the past week or so.
Another woman who attended the EPIC meeting at the library said she was aware most libraries don’t allow the signing of petitions on library property and admitted that was the main purpose of the gathering – to obtain signatures on a petition to add verbiage to the ballot in the next election to support and protect parents’ rights. She had been involved in political causes in the past and knew that persons passing petitions typically had to stay at least 25 feet away from the entrance door.
Back-and-forth via email
The exchange between Chavez and the mayor began with an email from Chavez pointing out that one of the school board candidates had held a “postcard” signing event, where people gather to sign a bunch of postcards to send out in favor of the candidate. Because there were no petitions signed and no interaction with library staff or patrons, it had been allowed, however, similar events will not be allowed in the future, the mayor told Chavez. Chavez said he believed that, because that candidate’s politics align with Marsha Baker’s, they were welcomed with open arms.
Mayor Levin responded to Chavez, noting the rule held by the Elmhurst Public Library: “No organization or individual shall be permitted to circulate a petition or solicit signatures from patrons or staff within the EPL. Circulation of petitions is allowed outside of the library building but must be conducted at least 25 feet from the entrance.”
Levin pointed out that the petition-signing event by EPIC was publicly advertised on social media, which is how it came to the library’s attention. Meeting rooms, even though they are reserved by a particular group, are open to the public. For privacy, one would have to reserve a study room on the second floor.
“Sometimes people complain to me that the City does not uniformly enforce rules, but it is worth noting that while the City may not always proactively seek out rule violations, we do act when they are brought to our attention,” Levin said in his email to Chavez. “That was the case here: following social media exposure, the rules were enforced.
“If I found an objective basis to believe that the library was involved in political bias, please be assured that I would address it directly. Meanwhile, I support the efforts of the EPLf staff, and will protect its reputation against unfounded accusations.”
The library weighs in
In an interview with the Independent, EPL executive director Mary Beth Harper reiterated the policy about passing petitions at the library. When asked about the internal memo that was circulated to more or less warn library staff that the group was coming, she had this to say:
“It is common practice for me to send information to staff about policy if something arises where they may be the first point of contact in dealing with an issue or questions,” she said. “Here is the email message I sent staff:
‘Just an FYI – there is a group using the meeting room today who advertised on Facebook that the meeting is for signing a petition in the Library. I spoke to the person who reserved the meeting room and let her know that petitions can’t be signed in the Library. The group will still use the meeting room but will have the petition signed outside. I asked the group to change their Facebook post. I also let them know about our parking issues. Hopefully the post does not bring large numbers of people to the Library today but just be aware in case you get complaints.’”
When the group was asked to leave an establishment on Spring Road where they had planned to meet, they returned to the library, but were reportedly turned away.
“The group was never asked to leave the Library, while outside soliciting signatures for petitions,” Harper said. “The only time members of the group were asked to leave the Library was when they were soliciting petition signatures inside the building. The meeting room remained available to them during this time for their informational purposes. A patron reserved the meeting room again two weeks after the original meeting and the group solicited for signatures outside the building, per policy.”
Mayor Levin said he had spoken to Board president Marsha Baker, who noted that “public groups have a right to their opinions, but they can’t interfere with our agenda, which is no political affiliation.”
The final word
After all the back-and-forth emails were exchanged, Chavez said in the City Council meeting that he was dissatisfied with the mayor’s response, saying his words “didn’t have a lot of meat.”
“You can placate me with what your ‘legal’ said, or you can address this head-on with honesty and integrity,” Chavez said in one of his emails. “Your response is unacceptable.”
Levin replied thusly:
“The Library is governed by a separate board, although I do appoint its members. While I may not speak for the Board, I have spent the necessary time to fully investigate the issue you have raised, and I have responded to you in short order. I do not appreciate your suggestion that I did not ‘address this head-on with honesty and integrity.’”
Mayor Levin later told The Independent, “Just because you don’t like the answer doesn’t mean it’s the wrong answer – or that there’s no ‘meat’ to it.”
