Darien Sticking With Prominent Bar Owner

DARIEN, IL – Darien's mayor is keeping a high-profile bar owner on a city committee, despite the owner's vulgar messages to a former alderman.

In an email to Patch on Tuesday, Mayor Joseph Marchese said he and City Administrator Bryon Vana met with Q Bar owner Robert Taft last week.

This was after Taft private-messaged former Alderman Tom Chlystek on social media and suggested Chlystek take his own life. Taft also called Chlystek a "f------ loser" and Chlystek's wife a "pig." And the bar owner bragged that he made a lot more money than Chlystek.

In a later email to Patch, Taft, a member of the city's Economic Development Committee, said he apologized for his comments.

He also said he was the victim of ongoing harassment from Chlystek, though he provided no details. Chlystek denied that was the case.

In his email, Marchese said it appeared Taft and Chlystek had a "significant history."

"After speaking to Mr. Taft regarding this history, and taking into consideration the contributions he has made to the Darien community, I have decided to have him continue in his position as a member of our Economic Development Committee," Marchese said.

Taft sent his vulgar messages a few hours after he and Chlystek took opposite positions on video gambling during a Downers Grove Village Board meeting. Taft favored such gambling, while Chlystek opposed it.

In his Downers Grove speech, Chlystek painted a grim picture of video gambling's effects on Darien. He said he regretted his vote allowing it, but the city later said the vote occurred before Chlystek took office in 2015.

While Marchese refrained from criticizing Taft's messages, he took exception to Chlystek's speech about video gambling. He did not identify Chlystek by name, but referred to a former official who spoke at another town's board meeting.

"His statements, filled with gross generalizations and inaccuracies, painted a very negative picture of our wonderful city," Marchese said in the city's weekly newsletter. "It is a shame that someone whose role included promoting the City of Darien has chosen to disparage a community he called home for so many years."

At Monday's City Council meeting, resident Brian Liedtke, a council critic who used to belong to city committees, took Darien officials to task for failing to denounce Taft.

He said the city issued a "public condemnation of a former elected official who served his community while being silent against the abhorrent comments of a business leader who still serves on a committee today."

Taft has played a role in local causes, including Darien Fest. Chlystek himself acknowledged Taft's contributions last week.

On Thursday, the Economic Development Committee meets for the first time since Taft's controversy. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The public is allowed to speak during the meeting.