At a recent meeting of Bloomingdale`s Old Town Commission, developer Don Morris was pitching his latest project–a small, stylish shopping center called Tiffany Pointe.
”It`s a nice name,” he told the commission, an advisory panel that oversees a historic area of the village. ”Donna came up with it.”
Morris was referring to Donna Tenuto, wife of Bloomingdale Mayor Samuel Tenuto. As mayor, Tenuto chairs the village board, which must ultimately approve or deny zoning changes like the ones Morris was requesting for Tiffany Pointe.
Morris insists that Donna Tenuto provided no service for him besides casually suggesting that his project be named Tiffany. She was not a consultant, nor was she paid, Morris says, and consequently there was no conflict of interest involving herself, her husband and the village.
Morris does not employing Donna Tenuto, but another company that came before the village board for an annexation request–Cardinal Industries–did pay her. And, a third company that came before the board, Applied Systems Applications, hired the mayor himself as a consultant.
In the City of Chicago, apparent conflicts of interest involving an elected official or his relatives might raise a furor. In Chicago`s suburbs, however, where most of the mayors and village board members are part-time public servants receiving little or no pay, conflicts occur often.
Occasionally, accusations of wrongdoing cause officials to resign. In Lake Forest, Ald. L. Robert Pasquesi was forced to quit earlier this year after an investigation indicated he and a partner stood to reap a $410,000 profit from property they purchased and contracted to sell for a medical office building.
Although Pasquesi did not vote on the zoning changes for the project, an investigation by former U.S. Atty. Sam Skinner, hired by the city to look into the matter, found that the alderman concealed his interest in the property and urged city officials to approve the project. Attempts to reach Pasquesi for comment were unsuccessful.
Possible conflicts often become heated political issues. For example, village board trustees in Bloomingdale, including Biff Behr, an adversary of the mayor, have questioned whether Tenuto has been open about his and his wife`s business dealings.
”When you look at any village and its public officials you`re going to have people with conflicts,” said Bloomingdale village Trustee Joanne Hildt, who has decided against running for re-election. ”The important thing is for that person to be open and not to vote.”
Tenuto was a paid consultant for Applied Systems Applications when the company came before the board for site approval. Tenuto said village minutes show he abstained from voting on the matter, but other village trustees said they were not informed of Tenuto`s involvement with the company until after the site was approved.
Tenuto`s wife was a paid consultant to Cardinal Industries when it came before the village board for an annexation request. Donna Tenuto said she was paid $500 every other week for about six months by Daniel Cardinal to oversee the construction of a building.
Village records indicate the mayor played a major role in annexing land so that a water line would go to Cardinal Industries property in
unincorporated Du Page County, at a cost to the city of about $20,000.
Tenuto, who earns $3,600 a year as mayor, said he did not announce at village meetings that his wife worked for Cardinal Industries because ”my wife is not on the board, I am.”
”You like to know things ahead of time,” said Behr, who is seeking re-election to the board this spring. ”In my mind, if there appears to be a conflict of interest, there is a conflict. The mayor is a very influential person. His opinion is highly valued. The danger is that opinion is slightly tainted.”
Although some trustees said they did not know Donna Tenuto was working for Cardinal, she said, ”It was certainly no secret. You can`t make a living at politics out here. We`ve all got to work. Do I have to work in Roselle or Glendale Heights? I have a real hard time if you tell me I don`t have a choice where I work.”
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State law is clear: Public officials must publicly declare conflicts and abstain from voting on the matters at issue. Additionally, each official must file annual statements of economic interest; one of those statements requires disclosure whenever the official or the official`s spouse receives income in excess of $1,200 from any business entity that comes before a municipality for zoning or annexation matters.
In that category, Tenuto answered ”none” for the last two years. Tenuto said he did not disclose his employment by ASA on the form because the board voted on a site approval for the firm, not a zoning change. He said he did not report his wife`s employment by Cardinal because there was no annexation of Cardinal property–only the annexation of county property so Cardinal could get a water line.
Janice Gerzevske, who is paid $720 a year as mayor of Carol Stream, says elected officials who are consultants or real estate developers pose conflict of interest questions that need to be avoided at all costs.
”When I went out last winter looking for a part-time job, I didn`t even consider working in Carol Stream,” she said. ”I don`t want to work for a company that might one day come before the board and ask for a zoning variance.”
A potential conflict also occurs when a municipal official is involved in a business that purveys goods or services to his community.
Bensenville board member Kurt Eilrich sold the village $1,600 worth of asphalt sealer and chlorine. Eilrich voted on the payment to his company and did not disclose his interest. He is being investigated by the Du Page County state`s attorney`s office.
”If I wouldn`t have voted on it, it would have gone through anyway,” he said. ”Now I find out if I do anything with the village, I`m supposed to put it on my statement of economic interest, which I don`t understand.”
Sometimes, the potential conflicts are not nearly as straightforward. In Naperville, city councilman Don Wehrli was accused by a colleague of having a conflict because he attempted to block a planned development adjoining property owned by his brother and other investors.
”I have so many relatives, I can`t keep track what everybody has an interest in,” Wehrli said. He said he opposed the development because it was not in the best interests of the community and did not know his brother had an interest in the adjoining property until he looked it up in city records.
Had he known, Wehrli added, it would not have made a difference and he still would have voted against the development. ”I don`t have any money invested in any of that so I have no conflict of interest,” he said.
Wehrli works for a company owned in part by his brother.
Some suburban officials go to great lengths to avoid the appearance of conflict. For example, Oak Brook Mayor Wence Cerne is a vice president of I.C. Industries, a major corporation that owns Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers.
Pepsi-Cola submitted the low bid to furnish the village with soft drinks. Not only did Cerne abstain from awarding the contracts and paying the bills, when he fills out his statement of economic interest he indicates how much stock he holds in I.C. Industries.
Cerne said that it is important for small municipalities to have public officials from a broad spectrum of the community.
”You don`t want to cut out a number of people who would make a real contribution when there isn`t any real conflict,” he said. ”It`s a matter of degree. Now if someone was a real estate developer and sitting on the board, I think that would be a bad situation.”
Many local officials are lawyers who work in the Loop. Occasionally, there are problems when these officials find their clients approaching their village board for governmental action. They may also find their own firm has been hired for village work.
Last summer, Hinsdale village attorney Clifford Weaver sought out labor law specialist Theodore R. Clark Jr. for a battle against a collective bargaining unit in the Hinsdale police department. Clark is a partner in the Loop law firm of Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson. Village trustee J. Robert Meyer is also a partner in that firm.
Village Manager Ron Ruskey said Clark was hired because ”we needed someone to do something quick.” Weaver, who was new at the job, said he had no knowledge of Meyer`s employment with the Seyfarth firm. Ruskey said board members approved Clark`s hiring. According to Weaver, Clark was paid $3,000 for the brief.
While both Ruskey and Meyer said there was nothing improper about using the law firm, the board decided to adopt a policy prohibiting the use in the future of law firms that employ a village trustee.
Vernon Squires, president of the Wilmette village board and a downtown attorney, said that on occasion, lawyers from his firm come before the board on zoning requests.
”I think disclosure and disqualification is how you deal with it,” he said. Squires added that he would not permit his law firm to do any work for the village.
To avoid conflict problems, Wheaton officials have adopted a stringent requirement for property owners who apply for rezoning: They must list any elected or appointed village employees who have an interest in the property. In addition, they must list any employee who has been promised or given a contract for consulting, planning or construction in relationship to the project.
”We want to absolutely avoid any questions by anybody,” said Wheaton Mayor Bob Martin. ”It`s something extra, but it can be done.”