Hinsdale Leader Won't Give Proof For Allegation

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale Village President Tom Cauley leveled an allegation two weeks ago against a sober living group, citing an email as evidence.

In response to a public records request, the village informed Patch on Friday it could not divulge the email in question.

The village said it was barred from doing so because it was considered "confidential" under a federal protective order. That order, the village said, is related to Trinity Sober Living's lawsuit against the village.

If the protective order requires confidentiality about the email, it is unclear how Cauley could have legally spoken about its contents during a public meeting.

Cauley, who has not returned repeated messages for comment, is no layman in the legal arena. After four decades, he retired earlier this month as a partner with Sidley Austin, one of the largest corporate law firms in the United States.

Two weeks ago, the Village Board approved a settlement with Trinity, in which it agreed to pay the group $790,000. Trinity alleged the village violated fair housing laws when the group set up a sober living home in town.

Before the vote, Cauley gave a 15-minute speech defending Hinsdale and denouncing Trinity. He said the lawsuit was Trinity's plan all along.

"During discovery, the village uncovered an email by the owner of Trinity, Michael Owens, discussing setting up a group home under the radar and when the town objects, suing for damages in federal court claiming discrimination," he told the board.

Afterward, Patch asked Owens about Cauley's allegation. He provided an email with the phrase "under the radar."

But Owens was not the email's author. Rather, it was written by Douglas Leech, founder and chief executive of Ascension Recovery Services in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The email was written in April 2019, a couple of months before Trinity opened at 111 N. Grant St. in Hinsdale.

Owens had written him that a seller had canceled Trinity's contract to buy a house after the seller found out it would be for people suffering from addictions. Owens did not indicate where the house was.

Owens said he could move forward legally with the purchase, but said he would meet with the sellers to ease their minds.

Leech offered some advice.

"I would say we pick another similar home, go in under the radar telling the seller it’s being purchased for single-family use, and get open," Leech wrote. "At that point, once you are open and have men living in the home, if the township tries to file an injunction you can invoke (Trinity attorney) Steve Polin’s services and get legal fees and significant damages through a suit."

Owens said he told Leech, a consultant, that he did not agree.

In its response to Patch's public records request, Village Clerk Emily Tompkins said Owens forwarded only a portion of the email chain to Patch.

Unfortunately, she said, the email in question was marked "confidential" under the terms of the protective order.

In an interview with Patch on Monday, Owens said he looked through his emails for the phrase "under the radar" and Leech's is the only one that turned up.

He said Cauley was either lying or distorting the truth to make himself look better. He noted the village spent millions of dollars on the litigation.

"Cauley is embarrassed about this entire issue from how he handled it from the beginning attempting to evict Trinity from our home to this settlement with us and the (U.S. Department of Justice)," Owens said.

Owens said he never said or wrote anything about flying "under the radar" and that Cauley knows that.

"Our elected officials need to be and do better than lying to their constituents," Owens said. "The Hinsdale community is a wonderful village. The Hinsdale administration is made up of dedicated and good people. They need a leader that has some integrity and honesty and not someone that manages their community by disparaging Trinity and myself. Hopefully, one day, the residents of Hinsdale will elect a leader with that integrity."