DuPage Official Wears Official Pin Repeatedly To Campaign Events: Complaint

ELMHURST, IL – A watchdog has filed a complaint against a DuPage County Forest Preserve board member wearing an official name pin to campaign events.

Democrat Tina Tyson-Dunne is seeking re-election as the District 2 member on the forest preserve board. She faces Republican Bill Wehrle.

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The district includes parts of Elmhurst, Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills, among other towns.

In Illinois, government officials and employees are barred from misappropriating any public property for the benefit of a campaign for elective office or any political organization.

In his complaint, watchdog Edgar Pal includes photos of Tyson-Dunne wearing an official forest preserve pin during several functions for other candidates and Democratic organizations last year – July 27, Oct. 7 and Nov. 17.

He presents evidence showing that the forest preserve paid for the pin and that the agency's staff created the pin's logo.

At the Oct. 7 event, Tyson-Dunne is seen in photos carrying the same clipboard that she used in other photographed events in which she was collecting signatures for her candidate petition, Pal said.

He said she was not conducting forest preserve business at the events in question.

Other photos showed Tyson-Dunne wearing a non-forest preserve pin to events, Pal said. In one case, he said, it was clearly identified as a campaign pin.

"Deciding which of the two pins to wear is an intentional decision on the part of Commissioner Tyson-Dunne," Pal wrote.

Pal's complaint goes to the forest preserve's ethics commission.

Tyson-Dunne did not return a message for comment last week. Nor did she when Patch wrote about it in December.

Last month, the commission cleared another forest preserve board member, Barbara O'Meara, in response to Pal's complaint that she committed similar violations.

In a letter to forest preserve officials, Randon Gardley, the ethics commission's chairman, said Pal's complaint was "legally insufficient" to proceed. He did not give further detail.

At the time, Pal said the outcome was concerning because agencies are expected to include specific reasoning in their written decisions.

"Here, they haven't even provided anything that would educate the parties or the public on how ethics issues should be handled going forward," Pal said.

Over the last year, Patch has reported on several area officials doing the same thing as O'Meara. Some have acknowledged the mistake, including a DuPage County Board member and an Elmhurst alderman running for county office.

Others have stayed silent, including a DuPage County Board member.

Like Tyson-Dunne, O'Meara has stayed mum when asked about wearing her government-issued pin to political events.

All are Democrats.