A complaint alleging misconduct by the McLean County government administrator and a sitting county board member is headed to the Illinois Attorney General's office for review.
Seven years after it last convened, the McLean County Ethics Commission met Thursday to consider a complaint filed with the county board on Feb. 5 by Normal Township Supervisor candidate Chad Berck, a Republican.
The complaint mirrored allegations made first by former assistant state's attorney Trevor Sierra.
In late November, Sierra sent an email to county board members that alleged McLean County administrator Cassy Taylor used her role to solicit donations to a political action committee aimed at funding a referendum to eliminate the county's elected auditor position. The email also alleged Taylor indicated twice that then-county board vice chair Elizabeth Johnston, a Democrat, would be coming through the county administration office to collect donations.
The requested funds were to pay for promotional materials regarding the referendum to eliminated the elected auditor's office. The measure failed at the ballot box, with about 55% of voters opposing the move.
Assistant State's Attorney Don Rood said Thursday an attorney not affiliated with the county has already completed a review of the matter at the behest of the county board. WGLT has filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the documentation presented to the county board in closed session on Feb. 13.
Berck's filing on Feb. 5 with the county board triggered the meeting of the county's three-member ethics commission, who were tasked with reviewing the complaint to determine whether there was probable cause to move it forward to the state's attorney's office to review it for potential criminal charges.
In the complaint, Berck said he was pursuing the matter himself because the allegations "suggest a serious breach of ethics and law, which undermines public trust in our elected officials and the functions of our local government as well as increases party partisanship."
The commission, whose members were not appointed by Johnston in her current capacity as board chair, voted unanimously to submit the complaint for further review.
Rood said once the state's attorney's office receives the complaint, the matter will be referred to the Illinois Attorney General's office — a "more independent, fact-finding organization, given they don't know anyone involved with the complaint."
Emails requesting additional comment from Taylor, Johnston and Berck were not returned by the time of publication.
A similar complaint has also been filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. A spokesperson said the complaint would be reviewed by the office's general counsel, who will make a recommendation on whether to sustain or overrule the complaint.
