Silly season alive and well – Political candidates that might want to consider a different line of work

Illinois (ECWd) –

Every election cycle we see an increase in communications related to local government candidate malfeasance. We appreciate that there are more and more people taking steps to expose those asking for their votes.

Out of the dozens of tips over the last few weeks, the following are noteworthy and took little work to validate and we believe the voters should know some details on those asking for their vote. Remember, these people could be making decisions with your taxdollars.

Algonquin Township Road District Highway Commissioner election:

Derek Lee is the candidate for Highway Commissioner.  As the foreman of the Road District, Lee brought his wife and daughter to a conference in New Orleans and the taxpayers picked up the tab for his family members.  Court records reflect his father-in-law, his boss at the time, failed to describe any public purpose for such an expense on the backs of the taxpayers. Shortly before his father-in-law was to leave office, Lee transferred the public paid-for cell phone to a personal account.  Court records reflect Derek Lee was in charge of keeping records for salt deposited at the Road District.  How special no such records were ever found.  Derek Lee wants your vote to be the next Highway Commissioner.  For those that remember the video of the car being shot up by three people connected to the Township, according to deposition transcripts, the union stipulated that Mr. Lee would testify that he was one of the persons shown in that photograph shooting a weapon. Mr. Lee would also testify that of those 3 persons, one other person who was firing a weapon is still employed by the Township Road Commissioner.

According to deposition transcripts, the union stipulated that Mr. Lee would testify that he was one of the persons shown in that photograph shooting a weapon. Mr. Lee would also testify that of those 3 persons, one other person who was firing a weapon is still employed by the Township Road Commissioner.

DuPage Township Supervisor:

Gary Marschke is running for Township Supervisor.  Marschke denied sexual harassment allegations lodged against him when he was employed by the State Treasure.  Court records conflict with his claim.  According to the court records he was disciplined over the matter and later resigned.   The Township has been sued four years in a row for excessive taxation and Marschke is of the opinion rather than fixing the problem the Township should not settle those cases but rather litigate them through the entire legal process because he claims they are not legitimate legal cases.  He refused to respond to questions pertaining to the racist flyer that was sent out against his opponent.  The flyer used pictures of both a noose and a Confederate flag.  Something most people would speak out against regardless of party affiliation, especially when it was used against a candidate of color, Alyssia Benford. He has sat silent while witnessing violations of the Open Meetings Act during past township meetings.  Gary Marschke wants your vote to be the next Township Supervisor.

Arcola, Illinois Mayoral race:

Sharilyn Kibler is running for Mayor.  Back in January, she was arrested in Arcola after a traffic stop went wrong.  What went wrong?  Rather than accept the fact she had no proof of insurance she chose to call 911.  She was then charged with a Class A Misdemeanor for resisting a peace officer. The Police report can be found at this link. While there is nothing criminal about dancing on the bar, one may wonder if that is the best option for their next Mayor. (Watch the bar dance here) Kibler wants your vote to be the next Arcola Mayor.

Avon Township Supervisor:

Terry Wilke is running for Supervisor.  The list of malfeasance is beyond belief for the average citizen but rest assured, this one is troubling.  He is currently being sued for defamation by the Assessor. After being exposed for using the Township email for campaigning he pulled an Anthony Weiner and said the email must have been hacked. He is currently under a criminal investigation related to taking ownership of Township property without approval as well as transfers of township property without approval. His problems have been covered in numerous articles. Wilke wants your vote for Avon Township Supervisor.

Maine Township Trustee

Kimberly Jones is running for Township Trustee.  According to records with the State Board of Elections, the campaign committee “Friends of Kimberly Jones” shows her as a Republican.  How special is it that she is running as a Democrat, not a Republican?  The State Board of Elections had never heard of a person claiming on campaign paperwork to be one party but then runs on the other.

The Treasurer for her campaign is Joseph Gomez, a former Director of the Illinois Tollway Authority.  Interestingly while Gomez was approving Tollway contracts, before and shortly after some of those contracts were approved, vendors managed to find their way to donate to the Friends of Kimberly Jones of which he is a treasurer. (See Tollway records here).  That appears to be a violation of criminal codes 720 ILCS 5/33-3.1 and 5/33-3.2 and may be worth a proper investigation by the appropriate authorities. (See Campaign reports here)

Also on the Tollway Authority Board was James Banks, an attorney with the law firm of Samual V.P. Banks.  The law firm also donated to Friends of Kimberly Jones.  How special that Banks specializes in “special uses for tattoo shops, liquor establishments and pawn shops throughout the area”. 

Who knew Kimberly Jones is the Administrator of the Pawnbroker Regulation Section within the Illinois Department of Financial Professional Regulations.  What are the odds that one of her contributors happens to deal with legal matters for pawnshops?

Who else used to work at the IDFPR?  Joe Gomez, the same Gomez that is her campaign treasurer.  The same Gomez that sat on the Tollway Authority Board along with James Banks.

Jones was behind false allegations of sexual harassment of which she signed a letter that contained information in conflict with her false allegations.  After a costly and lengthy investigation conducted by the law firm Ancel, Glink, Diamond, Bush, Dicianni & Krafthefer, her allegations were determined to be unfounded.

As Jones seeks your vote for Township Trustee, she voted NO on abating Township taxes all while the Township sits on over $11 Million dollars.

We are working on finalizing several other local elections that have problematic candidates worthy of exposure prior to the election.  Stay tuned!