Elmhurst Politico Spends Campaign Cash On Own Firms

ELMHURST, IL — DuPage County Board member Pete DiCianni, a Republican from Elmhurst, has raised $696,000 for his city and county political campaigns since 2007, according to state records.

Of that money, $229,000 has gone to his business, Win Marketing, and $61,000 with his other firm, DiCianni Graphics. That's a total of $290,000 going toward his Addison-based businesses. In all, 42 percent of his campaign donations have been spent with the companies.

No state law prohibits a candidate from spending political money with his own firms. But a longtime expert in political fundraising said the expenditures could raise ethical questions.

DiCianni, a former Elmhurst mayor, is planning to run for the Republican nomination for County Board chairman next year.

In an email to Patch, DiCianni said election laws allow him to use his firms just as he could use any other vendor. He noted he has been in office since 2009 and faced competitive races each cycle.

Two years ago, the state Board of Elections conducted a random audit of DiCianni's finances, he said.

"We passed with flying colors," DiCianni said. "I had to hire an auditor who is a CPA and does these state audits regularly. We were found to be in full compliance both in valuation of work as well as reporting. These are private dollars, no taxpayer monies used. There is no conflict perceived or implied, and we are a specialty firm that uses the best in union craftsmen and women, including people of color."

He also said he has been in business since he was 18 and does work for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies as well as campaigns for Republicans, Democrats and independents. He also said about half of what his campaigns have spent with his companies went to pay for postage as pass-through costs in direct mail.

An elections board spokesman confirmed the agency conducts random audits. But he said the agency was not permitted to reveal which campaigns are audited.

Kent Redfield, a retired political science professor from the University of Illinois at Springfield, called DiCianni's situation "interesting." He said one ethical issue would be a case where a candidate made expenditures that were so large that they seem out of proportion to the level of competition the candidate was facing.

"If such expenditures were made to an entity with no connection to the candidate, then you would probably chalk the 'wasteful' spending to ignorance or showing off," Redfield said in an email. "However, if the candidate benefits from the spending because he owns the businesses being paid by the committee, then the candidate has an incentive to overspend and increase his financial benefit from the campaign hiring his business."

He continued, "Such action is probably not illegal (or difficult to prove if it qualifies as fraud), but it would be unethical because the candidate would be using his campaign committee not just to support his candidacy, but also for personal gain."

Redfield said he had no idea whether DiCianni's campaign spending might raise such a question of unethical behavior.

But he said a candidate using his own company in such circumstances creates a conflict of interest. It is a conflict between his interest in making money through his businesses and his obligation to conduct a political campaign in an ethical manner, he said.

"Conflicts of interest are created by situations. They are an 'is.' He is in a position to make decisions about how much money he will spend on his campaign. Are those decisions motivated by his best judgment as to the amount of spending he needs to comfortably win or are they colored by a desire to spend as much as he can to increase his profit?" said Redfield, who has studied campaign fundraising for three decades.

Redfield said the appearance of unethical conduct can be just as damaging politically as actual unethical conduct. So he said it was generally best to avoid such situations by avoiding the relationship — in this case, hiring a different firm.

"You can hire your own firm and act ethically in your spending decisions, but that does not remove the conflict of interest. It is there because of the circumstances," Redfield said.

So far, the only other announced Republican candidate for board chairman is Greg Hart, a County Board member from Hinsdale. He and DiCianni are vying for the seat held by Elmhurst's Dan Cronin, who announced he would not run again.