PAC, union leaders respond to controversial letter, endorsements

RDP PAC wants to raise $40,000 for four candidates in the crowded West Lafayette school board race.

Race.

The letter came from a local political action committee.

News 18's joe paul has spoken to leaders of the pac and the west lafayette teachers union.

He joins us live tell us why they are backing certain candidates over others.

So far the origin of the letter is a mystery.

Leaders of the pac or teachers union had no knowledge of it before it was sent.

The pac wants to raise 40-thousand- dollars for four candidates in the crowded school board race.

Those candidates had already been endorsed by the union after a rigorous interview process.

"why would you want to rock a boat that is sailing smoothly?"

Dianne sautter is raising money for two incumbents and two candidates in a crowded west lafayette school board race.

She's the new chairperson of the red devil pride pac.

The group filed with the election board on september ninth as a political action committee.

"but it is not.

It is simply west lafayette citizens supporting these people who are on the board right now who are doing a very good job."

The pac sent a controversial letter to west side alumni before sautter became chairperson.

The letter states that some of the 15 candidates have a personal agenda or grudge against the administration.

No one is sure who wrote the letter but most agree it shouldn't have been sent.

But sautter implies the content of the letter was truthful.

"if there is a single person who has a grudge against the administration, that single person should not be allowed to sway anyone into voting for his or her picked candidates.

And someone may very well have a grudge against the administration."

The west lafayette teachers union endorsed the four candidates based on their responses to questionnaires and in-person interviews.

One of the questions was whether or not the candidates would accept pac money.

The union then forwarded their endorsements to the pac for financial support.

That's according to the west lafayette education association co- president marydell forbes.

"the pac is simply a fiduciary vehicle.

We chose the candidates, endorsed the four.

We were trying to serve our members by doing some vetting.

That was our motivation."

West lafayette mayor john dennis was the previous pac chairperson before stepping down in less than a day.

"within about six or eight hours, i found out that it was in support of some very specific candidates."

But the election board filing signed by dennis states the purpose of the pac is to support the union's endorsements.

Dennis says he wasn't aware of the letter until after it was sent.

"i actually had a copy of the letter sent to me and i read it, and it was personally offensive.

I didn't like it and it wasn't something i wanted my name affiliated with."

Forbes says she had no knowledge of the letter until the endorsement process had concluded.

"there was no nefarious plot, there was no backroom deal, this isn't school board where we're voting somebody off the island after making alliances.

We're simply trying to serve."

I'm told this is one of the most crowded west lafayette school board races in recent history.

Only five candidates ran for four available seats during the last school board election.

So it's safe to say a lot of people on the west side are passionate about their schools.

Reporting live in west lafayette, joe paul, news 18.

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