A resident who has been strongly questioning community efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion has been elected to a position on the Glencoe Caucus, where he will be part of a committee vetting candidates for the Glencoe School District 35 School Board.
Myles Mendoza was elected last month to the Glencoe Caucus School Board Nominating Committee, representing the village’s first precinct. He will be one of the four members from the first precinct and one of 17 overall committee members.
He has experience in the education field owing to his work as president at the non-profit Empower Illinois, which helps provide private school scholarship opportunities to low-income families
“The goal for me is to introduce diverse perspectives into the slating of candidates who will run for school board,” Mendoza said in an interview. “The idea that great minds think alike is actually wrong. Great minds think differently and the more diverse perspectives we get, the better candidates we will end up getting and the better education our kids will wind up receiving.”
The Glencoe Caucus is split between the Village Board Nominating Committee, which vets candidates for the Village Board, Park District Board of Commissioners and the Library Board; and the School Board Nominating Committee, which analyzes and eventually selects candidates for the Glencoe 35 School Board.
Mendoza’s election to the caucus follows his appearances at some village meetings during which he said about DEI efforts lead ing to antisemitism in the greater community.
“While I understand the intentions behind DEI programs are to foster inclusivity and understanding, I know that the unintended consequences are that these initiatives foster antisemitism,” he wrote in a letter earlier this year to village officials. “Across various platforms and instances, well-intentioned DEI efforts have inadvertently led to situations where antisemitism has been either overlooked, normalized, or worse — quietly promoted. This is not only alarming but goes against the very ethos of inclusivity and equity these programs aim to promote.”
Mendoza appeared at several village meetings using the public comment time to discuss his views. He also sent several like-minded letters to Glencoe officials.
The issue reached a new level of tension at the May meeting of the Glencoe Council for Inclusion and Community. Mendoza was asked to stop his remarks after exceeding the three-minute time limit for public comment, according to meeting minutes. People who attended the meeting said harsh words were then exchanged between the committee members and Mendoza.
After the meeting, Mendoza wrote a letter to Village President Howard Roin labeling the experience as “regrettable” and listing a series of incidents where he attempted to connect some recent incidents to overall DEI initiatives.
“I have attended and participated in meetings civilly for over three years. However, it seems that my civil contributions and those of others sharing similar perspectives have been consistently dismissed,” Mendoza wrote in a letter obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Roin then responded to Mendoza’s critiques in two separate letters.
“You say that your attacks on the village for promoting anti-semitism have been ‘communicated civilly.’” wrote Roin, who is Jewish. “However, there is nothing ‘civil’ about making baseless charges of anti-semitism. If the village really did something anti-semitic, please tell me so we can fix it and make sure it does not happen again. But unless you have something real to report, I respectfully request that you stop smearing the village and its volunteers with groundless charges of anti-semitism.”
Glencoe Caucus Advisory Council Chairman Andre Lerman said he was indirectly aware of some of the heated rhetoric between the Mendoza and the village, but he expresses confidence the existing caucus procedures will not lead to greater problems.
“What we tell everyone is to check your partisan beliefs at the door and come in with an open mind thinking about what is best for the community and in this case, what is best for District 35,” Lerman said. “Within the caucus process there is no room for personal attacks. It is strictly to meet and understand what the needs are at District 35 and to respond to that.”
Now that he is on the nominating committee, Mendoza said he hopes to broaden transparency at the schools, both financially and within DEI efforts.
Mendoza did not specify which residents he wanted to run for school board, but hopes people with similar perspectives seek election to the body that presides over the village’s three schools.
“There are 150 parents in the Jewish community who are concerned that DEI has led to anti-semitism. To me, those are the hopeful candidates in Glencoe,” he said. “They are coming from probably the left side of the aisle but their awareness of DEI leading to anti-semitism has given them a sense of balance. Their own diverse viewpoint will help the schools (become) better.”
Mendoza’s election to the nominating committee occurred as he applied for one of the two open slots on the committee representing the first precinct. No one else chose to run, according to Lerman. However, after the deadline application passed, fellow resident Jim Thompson staged a write-in campaign and was elected to the nominating committee.
Residents have until September 15 to apply for consideration by the caucus. Candidates receiving the support of the Glencoe Caucus often run unopposed in the municipal elections.
There are four seats up for election in 2025 on the seven-member District 35 board. Incumbent Enna Allen told Pioneer Press she plans to apply to the caucus for another term. Board President Kelly Glauberman along with Board Members Marc Gale and Joshua Markus said they haven’t decided whether they will seek another four year term.
A general membership vote on the entire caucus slate is expected at a town hall meeting in December.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.