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)."
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