Several District 115 Board of Education candidates are claiming that an opponent on the caucus-backed slate has business interests that would prevent him from serving if elected.
Tomas Nemickas is one of four caucus-supported candidates running for four slots on the school board. The other four candidates – Jennifer Neubauer, Lisa Mienville, Patrick Marshall and Cindy Good – are running as the Lake Forest Citizens Committee.
The LFCC’s website claims that Nemickas “will be prohibited from sitting as an LFHS Board member” if elected because the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute has a contract to supply an athletic trainer to the school district for as many as 1,400 hours, at a cost of $35,000.
“This is a crystal-clear, unlawful conflict of interest,” the website says. “Votes for him will simply not count. Should he be one of the highest four vote-getters, the fifth person in line on the vote count will actually be seated after the election.”
But Nemickas, who is backed by the Lake Forest Caucus, said his position as an orthopedic surgeon with the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, which provides athletic training services to the district, doesn’t pose a conflict of interest.
“My division (of the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute) does not have a direct relationship with LFHS or any contracts with the Board of Education. Therefore I was unaware of the athletic trainer contract,” he said in a March 13 email. He did not return calls seeking further comment.
The LFCC website also says that Nemickas didn’t disclose his economic interest with the IBJI, as required by law, in documents he initially filed to run for office. It also posts a screen shot from the Illinois Secretary of State website that lists Nemickas as one of nine managers of the company.
The LFCC website also says that a state ethics law would prevent Nemickas from serving.
But whether Nemickas’ job poses a conflict that could keep him from serving as a school board member is unclear.
In a Dec. 6, 2016, statement of economic interest obtained from the Lake County Clerk, Nemickas answered “none” to a series of job-related questions, including whether he has an ownership interest in an entity that does business with local government.
But on March 15, 2017 – after the LFCC raised concerns about Nemickas and the IBJI contract – Nemickas filled out at second statement of economic interest that says he is a “limited partner” at the IBJI, and appears to say he is a managing partner of the IBJI’s Gurnee division. It also states that the rehabilitation division of the IBJI has the athletic trainer contract with District 115.
A day earlier, Nemickas said in an email to the Lake Forester that he had “learned that another division of IBJI provides trainer support at a very minimal level and expenses only cover salary and benefits, generating no profitable gain to IBJI. If elected, I will clarify the relationship on the statement of economic interests.”
Candidate Patrick Marshall sees it differently.
“It was brought to the attention of many of us that it was a conflict,” Marshall said in a March 23 phone interview. “I know that when I signed my statement of economic interest. I had no conflict. It appears he does.”
Candidate Jennifer Neubauer agreed.
“(Nemickas) is an member-manager, he is an owner,” Neubauer said. “I do not believe he was in board meetings for seven years and the subject of a contract with Lake Forest High School never arose. Adults should lead by example. If adults don’t take the law seriously, why should teens take the law seriously?”
A website supporting Nemickas and the other caucus-backed candidates claimed the opposition candidates were “baselessly accusing a respected community member … of criminal wrongdoing.”
The LFCC slate, it said, “has no information about Dr. Nemickas’s employment or compensation agreement with IBJI, no knowledge of the structure of that particular LLC, and outdated information about his role in the organization – yet they expect voters to be swayed by their baseless legal posturing.”
Caucus-backed candidate Dave Lane said the LFCC allegations are much ado about nothing.
“This is a further attempt by that group to get attention and do anything and say anything to get elected,” he said on March 24. “I think this is just another distraction by that group.”
Ted Moorman, also a caucus-backed candidate, agreed.
“The claims of illegality and conflict of interest are unfair and disingenuous and put forth as a smear effort against a community member who has put himself out there to serve the community,” Moorman said. “There is no conflict. He’s not on (the) board (of education) and didn’t make any of those decisions. It’s a shame that people want to tear him down under a phony guise of conflict.”
The IBJI, which, according to its website, has 90 doctors at 20 Chicago area locations, did not returns calls or respond to an email seeking comment.
@reporterdude
