Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Richard Hayes (Indiana)
Richard Hayes was a candidate for the District 6 seat on the Gary Board of Trustees in Indiana. The seat was up for general election on November 4, 2014. Richard Hayes lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Elections
2014
The election in Gary featured three seats up for general election on November 4, 2014. District 6 incumbent and Board President Rosie G. Washington defeated challenger Richard Hayes. Both District 3 board member Nellie F. Moore and District 5 newcomer Darling Pleasant ran unopposed.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Rosie G. Washington Incumbent |
59.6% | 997 | |
| Nonpartisan | Richard Hayes | 40.4% | 675 | |
| Total Votes | 1,672 | |||
| Source: Lake County Board of Elections and Registration, "Lake County Election Results," accessed December 29, 2014 | ||||
Funding
The Lake County Board of Elections and Registration does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports.
Endorsements
Hayes did not receive any official endorsements during the election.
What was at stake?
Issues in the district
Financial obligations
Bus service debt
The Gary Community School Corporation owes approximately $3 million to Illinois Central Bus Co., which has provided school bus services to the district since 2012. The organization's chief executive officer, Steve Heimerlein, issued a statement in October 2014 that, "The amount in arrears grows approximately $150,000 each week."[1] The company gave the Gary school district a November 10, 2014, deadline to begin payments and stated, "ICSB cannot continue to pay for salaries, fuel and bus maintenance with no payment plan in place. [...] If bus service is discontinued, families of the 4,000-plus students will undergo significant hardship to transport their children to and from school, and the jobs of 100 drivers and staff will be eliminated."[2]
Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt criticized Illinois Central Bus Co. at a public hearing, insisting, "I don’t understand the harassment and intimidation on this community. [...] I would like Illinois Central to stop attacking this community. Children will have viable transportation." Pruitt also explained that the district's transportation fund has lost approximately $34 million since 2009 due to both uncollected property taxes and caps on those taxes.[3] On November 4, 2014, the Illinois Central Bus Co. announced that the district had secured sufficient funding for the business to continue serving the district uninterrupted.[4]
Sanitary District debt
On October 10, 2014, the Gary Sanitary District sent a letter to the school district stating that it owed approximately $800,000. The letter provided the district 30 days to settle its debt.[4] Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, who also serves as a special administrator for the Gary Sanitary District due to a federal consent decree, announced on November 8, 2014, that the school district and the sanitary district had agreed to settle the debt for $400,000 to be paid before the end of 2014. In her announcement, Freeman-Wilson added that, "There was never a danger that services would be stopped."[5]
Internal Revenue Service debt
In November 2014, the Internal Revenue Service contacted the school district regarding $6.78 million in unpaid payroll taxes.[6] Superintendent Pruitt issued a statement following the IRS's announcement insisting that, "The district is working diligently to resolve all collection matters. An agreement has been reached with Illinois Central Bus Company and the Gary Sanitary District. We feel confident that other matters will be resolved. [...] We are trying to resolve the issues. That's why we closed five schools and reduced the payroll. We will continue to do that until all of the issues are resolved." Pruitt also contacted the state budget agency to determine whether any of the district's state funding could be given to the district earlier than scheduled, but her request was denied.[5]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Richard + Hayes + Gary + Community + School + Corporation"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Post-Tribune, "Illinois Central: Gary schools can’t pay bill for buses," October 16, 2014
- ↑ StateImpact, "Gary Schools Get Nov. 10 Deadline To Pay Bus Company," October 16, 2014
- ↑ Post-Tribune, "Gary school chief to bus company: ‘Stop attacking this community’," October 16, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fox19, "Gary schools keep buses running, but face new lien," November 4, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Times, "Gary schools settles sanitary bill for half the cost," November 8, 2014
- ↑ The Indy Channel, "Ind. school corp. owes IRS $6.78M," November 9, 2014
| 2014 Gary Community School Corporation Elections | |
| Lake County, Indiana | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | District 3: • Incumbent, Nellie F. Moore District 5: • Darling Pleasant |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
