McCook Official Cashed In While La Grange Fought

LA GRANGE, IL — For years, La Grange has fought a McCook quarry in court, accusing the company of causing flooding in town.

Meanwhile, the former mayor of neighboring McCook has collected campaign cash from the company that runs the quarry.

In La Grange, the Hanson Aggregates quarry has been the subject of much anger for flooding in south La Grange. The village says the quarry cut a drainage pipe in 1992 that was crucial for drainage in La Grange. That move, officials say, violated an easement approved in the 1920s.

Former McCook Mayor Jeff Tobolski, also a former Cook County commissioner, apparently saw a different side of Hanson. From 2009 to 2019, Tobolski received $32,000 in campaign cash from LeHigh Hanson, parent company of Hanson Aggregates, according to state Board of Elections records.

The company's single biggest contribution to Tobolski was in March 2019, for $5,000. A year later, Tobolski resigned as McCook mayor and county commissioner amid a federal investigation.

Last September, Tobolski pleaded guilty in a federal corruption case to taking more than $250,000 in bribes and extortion payments, according to media reports.

In 2019, Tobolski had more than $400,000 in his bank account. A year later, that amount dropped to $200,000, nearly all of which he spent on legal fees, according to state Board of Elections records.

In La Grange, Village President Mark Kuchler has no campaign account. His predecessor, Tom Livingston, who resigned in early 2020, shared a campaign account with allied candidates in 2017. The group had only a few thousand dollars, with the account closed shortly after the election.

La Grange's attorney hopes to go to trial in the quarry case early next year.

To La Grange's east, McCook is the tiniest village in Cook County, with a population of about 220. The village is mostly industrial.

Hanson has not returned messages for comment.