McFarland Envelope Issue Sent to State's Attorney's Office

The issue surrounding Joliet Councilman At Large Jim McFarland and his use of city envelopes for political purposes has been turned over to the State’s Attorney’s office for review of potential violations of state or federal laws, according to a release from the city.

McFarland had requested city envelopes with his name as city councilman on the corner from the city manager’s office in early October 2015.

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“This is an ordinary request that is provided to the mayor and council,” the release said. “There is an assumption that any provided stationary is used specifically for city business.”

That provided stationary be used for city business is required in the city ethics ordinance and was incorporated into the rules of conduct recently adopted by the city council.

The release states that McFarland sent correspondence to Joliet residents and when some letters were returned to the city as undeliverable, the letter was found to be unrelated to city business.

“Council was reminded that such use of City stationery is campaigning and if there was any question regarding a communication to be sent using such stationary, the City Manager and Corporation Counsel would review the document before it was sent,” the release said.

Prior to that mailing, the city became aware that McFarland had sent additional mailings using city envelopes that included a flier stating that they were paid for by him or his campaign funds.

McFarland has apologized for his actions on his councilman Facebook page.

“Please accept my apologies. I failed to act carefully,” McFarland said in the post. “I used City branded envelopes to send out letters for the Veterans Day breakfast and Joliet Area Lost Pet mailers- not thinking these letters would be construed as personally political. Upon reflection, I realize the lines are blurred and I should have erred on the side of caution. I made a mistake and have offered to pay for my error.”