Letter: PACs at the local level

To the Editor:

American politics has always been dominated by big money from the wealthy elite, corporations and political action committees or PACs. In recent years, we have seen huge growth of new PACs at the local level here in Oswego focused on local races for the County Board, Oswego Township, Oswego village trustee and president.

In the last local election, the Oswego PAC was formed to elect the last three Oswego village trustees and members of the Oswego Township. There is the Kendall PAC that is chaired by Kendall County Board Chairman Scott Gryder and the PAC treasurer is David Krahn. There is also the Oswego First PAC that is chaired by our Oswego Village President, Troy Parlier, and the treasurer is David Krahn. What is interesting is that some local candidates also have their own personal campaign funds, such as Oswego Village President Troy Parlier.

I am not aware in our community’s history that local candidates have had both a personal campaign fund and a PAC fund. Why does this now exist at the local level and what does this mean for local races for even library, park district and school board races next spring 2023? How do local individuals who wish to serve and are more qualified but do not have the financial resources compete [at] such a financial disadvantage? Is this good for Oswego and do PAC donors now have more influence than voters?

What is more concerning is where is this money coming from into these PACs and then redistributed to local candidates? They come from companies who do business within our local Oswego village and county and their names can be found in the minutes of local votes being taken. Is this not a major conflict of interest? Construction companies, engineering firms, local businesses and attorneys for new developments in Oswego are also listed. Transfers between local PACs and candidates are common practice. Who is overseeing these financial conflicts, board votes and deals made on the taxpayer’s behalf?

You can find information on these PACs on the Illinois Board of Elections Page.

David Edelman

Oswego