School bond conflict of interest brewing

As I walked my neighborhood collecting sentiments from voters in the wake of their rejection of the $89 million Oak Park school Measure B6, I learned of a rumor that the district architects had paid for the lion's share of the B6/C6 campaign.

I went to the next school board meeting and expressed my dismay about the architects and the campaign. I was told that nowadays, political campaigns are so expensive, the committee can't be worried about who contributes the money.

Fact: the architects contributed $25,000 out of $38,000 initially collected.

What's suspect about taking money from the architects? For openers, they have a working relationship with the district that allows them to do work without competitive bids. And the architects are happy to sponsor the campaign because if the bond passes, they will have an opportunity for additional work, even though they'd need to win the competitive bidding.

Let's have a return to traditional values at the Oak Park Unified School District so when the "miracles happen" it's not due to consultants and corporate contributors who are just looking to make a buck. Glen Wilcox Oak Park