03/21/2023
You've heard why to vote for the for D205 School board, now it's time to learn why NOT to vote for the EPIC candidates.
Tom Chavez is running for school board and leading a slate of candidates from the group EPIC, a far right wing-adjacent special interest group.
Tomโs first documented interactions regarding D205 focused on CRT, anti LGBTQ talking points and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
Since it became apparent to most that his culture war talking points were not playing well in Elmhurst he now claims his platform is "transparency" and financial responsibility. Makes sense since he's a financial advisor and futures trader, right?
Well, thereโs some more bad news for Tom and cadre of EPIC candidates (Lan Li, Jammie Esker Schaer and Linda Nudera): The guy who is all for financial responsibility and literally has a job in finance has some problems being financially responsible and following rules.
Read below and ask yourself, "Is this who we want controlling D205's finances?"
The National Futures Association (NFA) filed a complaint against Tom Chavez and his firm, Alternative Capital Advisors LLC (โACAโ), in 2013. ๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐
๐โ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ซ.
๐๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ โ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐๐ก๐๐ฏ๐๐ณ ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐งโ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ.
https://tinyurl.com/49x9x32j
https://tinyurl.com/yc9upwcm
The NFA requires brokers to keep a minimum capital balance currently available to protect investors. The NFA found that Tom routinely did not maintain the required minimum capital and to hide this fact, he misclassified furniture essentially as cash, which is as wrong as it sounds. This was not a newbie mistake, as Tom had over 20 years of business experience at that point.
Ten years later Tom is still fudging numbers to make himself look better. This time he is spreading misinformation regarding D205โs budget.
First, he misleadingly characterizes a large amount of funds from the taxpayer-approved referendum for specific purposes such as building a new Field School, as if the school board could use those funds for regular day-to-day operations.
Second, he misleadingly points to a high current balance in the schoolโs coffers as somehow being evidence of poor management. What he fails to mention is that the balance is high because the school district just received one of their twice-a-year property tax revenue installments, and that balance will be paid down in the coming months.
Third, he omits that D205 is required to maintain a minimum balance (sound familiar?) to keep its good bond rating, which saves the taxpayers a significant amount of money.
Tom claims that his 30-plus years of business experience makes him better qualified than others to be on the school board, and represents himself as a โnumbers guy.โ A respectable businessman does not get caught cooking his own books. Elmhurst does not need someone who plays fast and loose with his own finances making decisions about our taxpayer dollars.
