Wyatt defends political appointment recommendation

By James Fuller
2/13/10

Kane County Board member Bill Wyatt may soon be out of the political limelight after voters gave him the boot in the recent primary, but he won't necessarily be unemployed.

Wyatt said he's looking forward to doing more work with the Aurora-based Progressive Energy Group when his political days are done. That's perhaps noteworthy because Progressive Energy Group is partially owned by another man recently put on the public payroll named Chris Childress.

Childress was appointed to the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District's board of trustees with a salary of about $12,000 in December. Childress won that appointment after Wyatt pushed forward his resume to a conglomeration of state lawmakers in the reclamation district's service area who control the appointment.

State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia is one of the state lawmakers who signed off on the appointment. Chapa LaVia said she was familiar with Childress because he once came to her with concerns about price gouging during the time he worked for Nicor Gas.

"I was thinking he was a pretty decent guy," Chapa LaVia said. "I know him as having integrity. But usually we don't vet these people ourselves. Usually the lobbyists bring it forward and say this is the recommendation."

Chapa LaVia said the lobbyist who brought Childress's nomination to her was Jay Keller, who counts the Hollywood Casino as one of his many clients. But Wyatt, in an interview, said he used his position as chairman of the Aurora Township Republicans to get the ball rolling for Childress by forwarding his resume on to state lawmakers. Wyatt said there is nothing wrong with what he did.

"The legislators are the ones who make the appointment," Wyatt said. "I don't make the appointment. One of the ways to get your name in front of the lawmakers is to contact me and I send the names on. I thought Chris would be perfect for the job because he worked at Nicor for 30 years."

Wyatt has also known Childress and his family for most of his life. Childress and his brother, Mike Childress, have been big supporters of Wyatt's campaigns in the past. Together they've donated nearly $30,000 in money and in-kind contributions to Wyatt over the years.

Wyatt said those donations came because he's so close to the Childress family. In fact, Wyatt has co-hosted a local cable access show with Chris Childress's father for 20 years.

"Does that disqualify me from passing along (Chris Childress's) resume?" Wyatt said. "All I did was forward on the resume of someone, which is what I'm supposed to do. He's completely qualified. Would you rather me pass along people I don't know?"

As far as Wyatt getting a job with Childress's company, Progressive Energy, Wyatt said it's consisted of five to 10 hours of volunteer work per week for the past two years.

There was no quid-pro-quo job in trade for the appointment, Wyatt said.

"My card says managing partner, but I've never made a penny from them," Wyatt said. "I've never had a paycheck.

"To me, any concerns about this are all a bunch of nothing," Wyatt said. "It's all political. The guy is eminently qualified. To me, that's where it all starts and ends."

Childress said his only interest in the position was to put the skills he learned in his years at Nicor toward a positive public use. No promises for jobs, campaign contributions or any other quid pro quo were made, Childress said.

"To the best of my knowledge I followed all the correct procedures for the appointment," Childress said. "It's the same process all the other trustees on the board followed. And I was appointed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers."

Childress said he used to vacation with Wyatt as children. He said he did invite Wyatt to work for his company, but Wyatt was too busy with his county board work to dedicate the time necessary to be a paid employee.

"He helped my company; I helped his company," Childress said. "I'd love to hire the guy when he's done (with politics)."

Kane official says no pay to play, but banks big bucks from vendors

By James Fuller
2/9/2010

A comparison of companies that received big checks from Kane County in 2009 shows similarities to companies that cut big checks to county board Chairman Karen McConnaughay's campaign fund in 2009.

McConnaughay, whose post is not up for election this year, said there's no "pay to play" going on, and she'd welcome further campaign finance reform in Illinois.

At least one county board member said he doesn't like how it looks to the public for any county board member to take money from people or companies the county does business with.

More than $17.5 million in county funds went to 43 companies and firms that donated nearly $43,000 to McConnaughay's war chest in 2009. Those donations helped pay back $40,000 worth of a $60,000 loan McConnaughay and her husband gave to her campaign in 2008. It also chipped in for the $27,000 cost of a consultant team that works to raise even more campaign money for McConnaughay.

A total of $2,000 from McConnaughay's fund also went to Jean Weems for "campaign officer support." Weems is a county board employee with a taxpayer-funded salary of nearly $70,000.

McConnaughay said she realizes some people may think the donations look bad, but that's one of the reasons she voluntarily removed herself from the county's vendor selection process. As chairman, McConnaughay only votes in the case of a tie on the board. She said she doesn't sit in on county staff meetings where vendors are selected.

McConnaughay welcomed anyone to look up her campaign contributions and compare them to the county's vendor list. She said the county is moving toward more transparency and has posted all the vendor contract payments on the county's Web site.

County board member Jim Mitchell said scrutiny begins with board members themselves. It's not enough to just direct the public to a Web site, he said.

"One of the things that really bothers me very much is people who take campaign contributions from employees of the county, people doing business with the county or people who they have voted to approve zoning changes for," Mitchell said. "Whether or not it affects the vote, I don't know, but I think it sends a bad message for government."

Mitchell said he'd favor the county board passing some sort of ethics reform that prevents such contributions or at least makes people more visibly accountable.

"If you take this kind of money, people need to know," Mitchell said. "So if you really believe you should be able to take money from people whose contracts you vote on, you should stand up and say it. If they're not ashamed, why don't they publicly say what they took when we vote on the contracts?"

McConnaughay does believe people and companies should have the right to give money to political campaigns.

"Those folks who are donating have First Amendment rights, too," McConnaughay said. "But if a vendor gives me a $20,000 contribution, you should worry about that. That's why in this state we need to have consistent rules, top to bottom, to provide that accountability."

The comment is in light of recent attempts at campaign ethics reform in Illinois that did not include new limits for contributions by the state's legislative leadership or extend to all levels of government. McConnaughay said she has imposed her own rules on her campaign coffers that refuse any donations from a county vendor in hefty amounts such as the $20,000 in her example.

"The challenge here is protecting First Amendment rights, balanced with rules, boundaries and procedures that are applied across the board and really make sure people are behaving appropriately when they are campaigning," McConnaughay said. "Illinois has been a disclosure state. We've said we'll make all the information public, and as a result, there are no rules. It's kind of a 'Wild West' approach to campaign finance."

As far as the use of campaign money, McConnaughay said there's nothing wrong with using it to repay a loan like she did.

"That's what a loan is," McConnaughay said. "You are loaning to the campaign with the understanding that it will be paid back. The bigger issue is when folks use campaign funds for things like vacations or extravagant lifestyles."

As far as her own behavior?

"We have nothing to hide," McConnaughay said. "And if you have nothing to hide, then put it out there for everybody to see. That's what we've done at the county."


Giving and receiving

A list of the companies/individuals that donated money to Kane County Chairman Karen McConnaughay's campaign fund in 2009 and the amount those same companies/individuals received from the county for services rendered:

1. Plote Construction (and its owner, Dan Plote): donated $2,012; received $5,150,200

2. Baker Engineering: donated $750; received $1,698,434

3. Alfred Benesh & Co. (and employees of the company): donated $1,680; received $1,633,984

4. Geneva Construction (and President John Patrick Bryan): donated $1,000; received $1,214,781

5. McDonough Associates Inc.: donated $750; received $1,151,716

6. Wine Sergi & Co.: donated $750; received $842,532

7. Civiltech Engineering: donated $750; received $810,893

8. SEC Group (a subsidiary of the donor, Howard R. Green Co.): donated $750; received $499,921

9. Hampton, Lenzini & Renwich: donated $750; received $480,059

10. Curran Contraction: donated $500; received $443,831

11. Omega & Associates: donated $750; received $435,002

12. AT&T (via a PAC): donated $750; received $425,975

13. Wills, Burke, Kelsey Assoc. and Christopher B. Burke Engineering: donated $2,000, received $411,895

14. ComEd: donated $1,750; received $192,585

15. Entrain: donated $1,560; received $180,740

16. Day & Robert: donated $1,500; received $173,500

17. Crawford, Murphy & Tilly: donated $750; received $135,000

18. Elmhurst Chicago Stone Co. & GFS Fence, Guardrail and Signage: donated $2,750; received $126,977

19. Laser, Muchin, Dombrow, Becker, Levin & Tominberg (via partner Carl Tominberg): donated $750; received $105,513

20. CIORBA Group: donated $750; received $92,480

21. Shales McNutt Corp. (via President John Shales): donated $750; received $91,944

22. Engineering Enterprises: donated $930; received $87,674

23. Patrick Engineering: donated $750; received $78,637

24. Wight & Co.: donated $750; received $59,823

25. Bowman, Barrett & Associates: donated 1,750; received $45,970

26. V3 Consultants: donated $750; received $43,186

27. Grief, Anhalt, Schloemer Associates: donated $750; received $42,375

28. Homer L. Chastain & Associates: donated $1,500; received $38,768

29. Burns & McDonnell Engineering: donated $750; received $41,678

30. Kinnally, Flaherty, Krentz & Loran: donated $1,500; received $34,808

31. AECOM, USA: donated $500; received $33,486

32. Aldridge Electric: donated $500; received $28,170

33. HNTB Corp.: donated $750; received $26,654

34. Union Pacific: donated $500; received $16,058

35. Shodeen Inc.: donated $2,000; received $9,939

36. ESI Consultants: donated $750; received $7,681

37. Welch Bros. Inc.: donated $500; received $5,350

38. Cloverleaf Farms Distributors: donated $750; received $4,471

39. Gaffney's PMI: donated $750; received $3,250

40. Hoving Clean Sweep (a subsidiary of the donor, Kenneth Hoving Recycling & Disposal): donated: $1,500; received $3,224

41. Comcast: donated $750; received $2,657

42. Alliance Mechanical: donated $250; received $935

43. Finkbiner Equipment: donated $250; received $74

SOURCE: Illinois State Board of Elections; Kane County Finance Department

Harassment complaint in Kane Co. coroner's office leads to theft probe

By James Fuller, Josh Stockinger and Larissa Chinwah
1/23/2010

An ongoing investigation into Kane County Coroner Chuck West's office centers on the possible theft of a big-screen television from a dead man's home in 2007, the Daily Herald has learned.

The Kane County sheriff's department uncovered the allegations while investigating a sexual harassment complaint filed against West by one of his female deputies last year, multiple sources have confirmed.

West has not been charged with any wrongdoing. He referred questions Friday to his attorney, Gary Johnson, who downplayed the investigation's seriousness.

"When the entire story comes out, it's fairly laughable," said Johnson, who declined to discuss specifics of the case. "This is exhausting taxpayer money. I think people are going to say, 'What's everybody doing here?'"

Charles Colburn, a special prosecutor called to investigate West's office to avoid potential conflict of interest with the state's attorney, wouldn't disclose details but said the activity in question "doesn't appear to be widespread."

"The investigation continues," he said. "We're working very hard to reach a speedy conclusion."

West's office came under investigation after the coroner was accused of exposing himself to an employee last year, according to multiple sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. It was during the course of that investigation that sheriff's officers received information the coroner's office was also responsible for the theft of a relatively inexpensive big-screen television from the home of Preston Pomykal, 64, of Carpentersville, the sources said.

According to police reports, officers found no signs of forced entry or foul play in Pomykal's death in July 2007. After an initial investigation, reports state, West returned to the home to look for information to identify the man's next of kin but had no success.

While visiting the residence, police said, the coroner discovered a collection of guns and ammunition, which he turned over to police to be destroyed or recycled. A television, however, turned up missing, sources said.

A Republican and former paramedic, West was first elected coroner in 2000. He has said he believes the probe into his office is politically motivated, and he does not intend to seek re-election.

Attorney Ken Shepro, who represents the county board, said Friday that West's job status has not changed. "There is no authority in the board or anybody else to suspend or remove an elected official short of a criminal conviction," he said.

County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said it's too early to tell whether West should resign. She said she wants to see a final report from prosecutors first.

"That report is critical," she said. "I don't think it's responsible to say much about it yet. Anything you're hearing or anybody's hearing is really accusation, hearsay and rumor. But the county board has been made aware that there is an investigation ongoing. And I think we all are anxious to hear the outcome."

Mike Kenyon, Kane County's GOP leader and chairman of the county board's judicial and public safety committee, said he, too, is awaiting the investigation's outcome.

"He (West) is in line to get a pretty nice pension," Kenyon said. "If I was him, I would ask myself, do I want to take a chance on losing my pension? Do I want to resign and walk away from this, or do I want to stand and fight? And if I stand and fight, am I willing to risk losing everything? If there's any truth to it, I would think his lawyer would be telling him to resign. But then again, not everyone listens to their lawyer."

If the theft allegation turns out to be true, Kenyon said, it would be among the worst breeches of the public trust that could happen in a coroner's office.

"That office has to be built on trust," Kenyon said. "There are two things that would be bad if they happened in that office. Those are if you couldn't be trusted in somebody's house and if you couldn't be trusted with a body."

Furloughed Kane Co. sheriff's employees will get money back

By James Fuller
1/4/2010

A Kane County Board decision to furlough 26 sheriff's department employees to close out 2009 has turned into more of an extra paid vacation than a message about failed leadership.

Sheriff Pat Perez confirmed Wednesday the county has struck a deal with the employees to pay them every penny they would've received if they'd worked the four days they were furloughed. The decision comes after some of the 26 employees hired Naperville attorney Steven Calcaterra, who fired off a letter to the county saying the furloughs had an unjust impact to the pensions those employees will receive upon retirement.

While there was no expressed threat of a lawsuit in the letter, Perez said it was clear a lawsuit was possible. Calcaterra could not be reached for comment.

To avoid a potential suit, Perez said he and the county board have agreed to resolve the grievance by paying the employees what they would've received. The money, about $32,000 total, will be paid from 2009 surplus funds, which the county board gave Perez to close his budget deficit at the end of the year.

"I think the main beef was, while none of them had an issue with being furloughed because the economics dictated it, they would've liked a little bit more notice," Perez said.

At the time the county board approved the furloughs, Perez said the employees didn't know the unpaid days off were coming.

Following that furlough vote, Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said the furloughs were, in part, to send a message to the command staff about its budget failings.

"These are the folks who needed to come up with a solution at the eleventh hour," McConnaughay said of the command staff. "And those are the people who got furloughed."

Perez said the relationship between his staff and the county board is much improved following recent successful union contract negotiations for concessions in 2010. However, he couldn't answer whether or not the message behind the furloughs is lost with the employees now receiving their pay.

"That question should probably be asked of somebody from the board," Perez said.

McConnaughay could not be reached for comment.

• Daily Herald staff writer Josh Stockinger contributed to this story

Flu-like illnesses close St. Charles East High

By James Fuller
10/21/2009

St. Charles East High School was closed Tuesday for the rest of the week after more than 40 percent of the student population called in sick reporting flu-like symptoms.

The school will be closed through at least Friday as the loss of 911 students from classrooms began to make some of the normal school operations impossible. The absences follow homecoming activities last weekend.

Superintendent Don Schlomann said the district first began seeing a high rate of absences on Monday when about 30 percent of the 2,200 students at the school called in sick. About 27 staff members joined them on the sick roster.

Only 11 staff members called in sick on Tuesday, but the student absences ballooned to 911 as of about 2 p.m. Even as Schlomann spoke of the outbreak, more parents drove through the parking lot picking up students leaving school early.

Schlomann said there's no evidence of how much of a role the H1N1 virus is playing in the absences. The district is unaware of any students testing positive for the H1N1 virus, nor any students who have actually been tested for the virus. Schlomann said he suspects the outbreak is attributable to a combination of H1N1, the regular seasonal flu and other cold-weather illnesses.

Freshman Amanda Mueller was one of the students headed home about that time. She said classes and teachers were having difficulty functioning with some classes, such as her math class, missing half the students that would normally occupy desks.

Asked what she planned to do in light of all the illness around her, Mueller said her game plan involved just one thing.

"Sleep," she said.

At that point in the day, the district was still struggling with the idea of when to close the school. Schlomann said neither the Kane County Health Department nor the Kane County Regional Office of Education had any guidelines about how many absences should trigger a school to close.

"Some parents are calling us and saying, 'Why don't you close schools?' " Schlomann said. "Well, even if we closed schools, when would we open them again? There's no clear indication as to, OK, it's all clear now. This virus is present in the community. It will probably be present all winter."

Later, district staff members met with staff members at the high school and decided to shutter the building for the rest of the week. All extracurricular activities scheduled for Tuesday continued as scheduled. All extracurricular activities for the rest of the week have been postponed.

That includes the fall play, the St. Charles East vs. St. Charles North football game and the Kick-a-Thon. The district will announce makeup dates as the impact of the illness outbreak becomes more clear.

All other District 303 schools will remain open as no other schools are experiencing higher than normal absentee rates.

Schlomann said it's possible the outbreak has struck only St. Charles East because it is the only school in the district that had homecoming activities in the past few days.

"You would think there might be some connection in regard to that," Schlomann said. "We had a lot of students very close together for a long period of time for football games and dances and other things like that."

St. Charles man's drowning death result of heroic effort to save kids

By James Fuller
8/6/2009

Marty Jordan held tight to his family as the waves crashed around him. He was all they had standing between them and death. And he had to give everything to keep them from it.

The will behind the effort came from a life dedicated to helping others survive. Even as a child, his nine siblings agreed Marty Jordan, of St. Charles, had the biggest heart of all of them. That heart manifested into a career as a social worker for 25 years, helping countless people navigate the obstacles in their lives. As deep, churning waters of a Lake Michigan rip current sucked them farther and farther from shore it was his own family who called on that heart.

The day began as the climax to a family vacation in South Haven, Mich. Several members of the Jordan clan were there, including Jordan's sister, Mary, of Streamwood, and his brother, Dan, of Oak Park. They had all brought their children, 10 total, to a classic baseball game played under turn-of-the-century rules. The game was played on a field that overlooked a beach with a pier that stretched far out into Lake Michigan. It was a beach all of the family had been to many times during years of vacations, making it a natural destination for the end of the day.

The families set up in the sand about 75 yards away from the pier. It had been drizzling rain much of the day, but now the skies were clear. Only a gusting wind remained, hitting speeds of 30 mph.

Beaches and water, plus young children, make it almost impossible to stay out of the water. In fact, there were dozens of people also on the beach who were already in - or had been in - the water. Earlier in the day, local rescue officials had been called twice to help pull people out of a powerful rip current near the pier. But Jordan and his family knew nothing about it.

There were no lifeguards present and signs posted about possible rip currents at various points on the beach were not seen by Jordan and his family, nor witnesses interviewed about the incident. So Marty Jordan, 45, headed out into the waves. With him were five children: his 9-year-old son, Jack Patrick Jordan; three nieces (Lauren Gaborek, 16; Jordan Mattas, 9, and Cami Jordan, 11), and one nephew, 8-year-old Jack William Jordan.

It was all fun at first. Having been there many times before, the kids all knew to stay away from the pier for fear of being tossed into it by a wave. But on this day, the lake waters did not give them the option. The gusting winds spawned waves larger than the children were accustomed to. The swelling water soon sucked Marty Jordan and the children closer and closer while pushing them farther out into the lake. At first the pull was mild, then a jet stream of water began to work on them. As it became clear they were in trouble, Marty Jordan bellowed, "You need to help us!" But it was so windy, his relatives on the beach could not hear him. Soon, they were so close to the pier it became as much of a rescue option as it was a threat. Bystanders who could see the danger tossed life preservers into the water. Seeing that, Scott Mattas, of Streamwood, Jordan's brother-in-law, ran into the water to help.

The youngest of all, Jack William, was in the most trouble. With little weight or swimming strength to anchor him, the foamy waves yanked the 8-year-old out into the lake faster. His sister, Lauren, already in the water, latched onto him and fought her way toward the pier, collecting Jordan Mattas along the way. They were able to make their way to a ladder at the pier where bystanders began hoisting them out of the water.

Meanwhile, Marty Jordan was in a fight of his own. He'd managed to catch hold of his son and his niece, Cami. "Hold on for your lives," he told the children as he began his own exhausting swim to the pier with the two bigger children in tow.

On the beach, Marty Jordan's brother, Dan, called 911. The rest of the family, including Marty's wife, Maureen, huddled as they watched and prayed. "We were hoping for a miracle," Dan Jordan said.

As the children reached the ladder of the pier they looked back. Marty Jordan, their dad and uncle, disappeared under the waves with a last push of the children onto the ladder.

A bystander jumped in the water to help him. Marty Jordan stretched out and hooked his fingers around the ladder, but the waves knocked him loose. When he surfaced again, Jordan was unconscious. Rescue workers arrived and pulled him out of the water. But it was too late. The children were safe, but the hero was gone.

"We were all there having a good time, then, within seconds, it all changed," Dan Jordan said. "It became the worst day of our lives. We watched the worst event you can imagine."

South Haven Community Hospital pronounced Marty Jordan dead less than two hours after the family arrived at the beach. He leaves behind his wife, his oldest son Jack, his 5-year-old son, Liam, and his 4-year-old daughter, Caroline.

Funeral services were still being arranged late Monday afternoon.

Kane County told to vacate old Montgomery Ward property

By James Fuller
7/17/2009

A strong-arm maneuver to buy the old Montgomery Ward site in St. Charles has gotten Kane County an eviction notice from the site's owner.

The Kane County Circuit Court Clerk has used the 109,000-square-foot building as an office since the county began leasing the property back in 2001. The county has always had an eye on buying the property.

County board attorney Ken Shepro said New York-based Rockward Associates currently owns the site. The county pays the lease and the taxes on the site.

That's a total cost of about $250,000 a year as of February 2008 - about $100,000 in rent and $150,000 in property taxes. The county also spent about $2 million in furniture and building improvements on the site when it moved in.

That lease agreement began to unravel as the county's frustration grew with slow negotiations to purchase the site. In February 2008, the county initiated condemnation proceedings on the site, a tactic to force the sale.

In response, the owners have now sent the county an eviction notice. It demands that the county begin paying rent on the property at a rate of $9.50 per square foot ­per year - or get out by Aug. 31. That's about $1.04 million a year.

The notice is only the first step in any eviction. Only if the county doesn't vacate by Aug. 31 is there a potential for the eviction to move to the court system, Shepro said.

Shepro also said the idea that the county will pay the rent or vacate the property is laughable.

"If they want rent, then we could say, 'OK, we'll go,'" Shepro said. "What do they really think is going to happen? Then they'll have no rent, and we wouldn't be paying the real estate taxes, either. This is definitely kind of a your-mother-wears-army-boots move on their part."

Meanwhile, the condemnation is still only in the discovery phase and awaits a judge to place a value on the site.

No matter what happens, St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte said, city officials have kept an eye on the property in the hopes of returning it to retail use if it ever becomes available.

"We have had ongoing and numerous discussions with the county regarding the possibility of putting that property back into a sales tax-generating status," DeWitte said Thursday. "Clearly, because of its proximity to Randall Road, we believe its location would be best served generating sales taxes."

Rockward Associates could not be reached for comment.