'A Coward': DuPage Official Blasts Colleague

WHEATON, IL – DuPage County Board member Dawn DeSart apparently doesn't think much of her colleague, Brian Krajewski.

Recently, board members jockeyed for committee chairmanships, with the new board chairman, Deb Conroy, a Villa Park Democrat, in charge of appointments.

DeSart, an Aurora Democrat whose district includes Naperville, denounced Krajewski, a Downers Grove Republican, after Conroy kept him as the chairman of the Animal Services Committee.

Krajewski's district includes all or parts of Hinsdale, Darien and Burr Ridge, among other towns.

Through a larger public records request, area watchdog Edgar Pal obtained a text message from DeSart to Krajewski. It was among a number of texts that he provided Patch.

In the message, DeSart said she thought she and Krajewski were collegial, if not friends. She referred to the fact that Democrats now hold the board's majority and its chairmanship.

"That you worked against me is unconscionable," DeSart said. "Your party lost. My party won. This time. Your weak ego couldn't take the loss, so you took my chairmanship of Animal Services away from me."

DeSart said Krajewski's "fragile ego" led to his loss of a friend.

"I feel truly sorry for you. You're a broken, desperate human being," DeSart said. "You think you won, but instead, you're just another loser. And you're a coward for not taking my call today. Zero character. Sad to learn this about you ... someone I had once admired."

Krajewski forwarded the message to Conroy and thanked her for keeping him as chairman of Animal Services.

"Clearly Dawn is not happy," Krajewski wrote.

Krajewski did not return a message for comment from Patch left on Friday.

In an email to Patch, DeSart said she was upset because a friend took a position that was "rightfully mine in a cowardly way." She said she and Krajewski had collaborated on many issues over the years. She said she was hurt he did not reach out to her.

"If Member Krajewski had called me to have a discussion about the Animal Services chairmanship, I probably would have given it to him, without him having to contact 10 board members for signatures," DeSart said. "He chose not to do the honorable thing, so I do believe him to be a coward."

She did not indicate why the position was rightfully hers, other than that her party controlled the board.

DeSart is the committee's vice chairwoman.

Both DeSart and Krajewski have noted their interest in animal protection. In 2001, DeSart, a journalist, was awarded the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago's Media Personality of the Year Award.

On Instagram, Krajewski describes himself as an animal rights activist.