Lake Forest Amtrak Lobbying Report Recommends Discipline

LAKE FOREST, IL — A special counsel investigating how Lake Forest spent $192,000 on lobbyists without the City Council knowing about it recommended "appropriate personnel action" short of termination be taken toward City Manager Bob Kiely. Special Counsel Leigh Jeter began looking into the expenditure last year after a group of citizens brought the Council's attention to the payments. On Feb. 20, she delivered her 11-page report to aldermen, finding several violations of city code by current and former officials.

The payments involved were made in monthly installments of $9,500 through the law firm of City Attorney Vic Filippini, while payments of $20,000 or above require approval from the Council, according to the report. The lobbying efforts to bring a West Lake Forest Amtrak stop on the Hiawatha Line began back in 2012 through the firm Holland and Knight's D.C. offices, where Filippini was employed at the time. When he left in 2014, the lobbying payments to the Washington, D.C.-based firm Chambers, Conlon and Hartwell were directed through Filippini's firm in Evanston to keep the effort "as close to the vest" as possible, he told the special counsel.

The report did not find that any of the officials involved – the city manager, city attorney, finance director, former Mayor Don Schoenheider and current Mayor Rob Lansing – financially profited from the arrangement or intentionally misled aldermen or the public.

However, the report found violations of city codes when the total payments spent on the lobbying firm reached the $20,000 threshold and again when it was renewed on the same terms without seeking approval from aldermen.

The city has implemented changes in its financial procedures since the payments were uncovered.

The report recommended "appropriate action" to make sure that the mayor understands the Council's expectations of open communication and that the city attorney understands his "professional role and obligations" to the council.

The report also found that Finance Director Elizabeth Holleb knew that the payments to the lobbyists were coming out of the general fund contingency account.

Holleb told the special counsel she had concerns but never questioned the direction from the city manager or reported them to the finance committee of the Council, as she "did not feel it was her place to question" the mayor, city manager and city attorney, who she knew to be in agreement about the arrangement, according to the report.

Jeter said the citizen group that uncovered the spending also shared "a number of concerns that they had beyond the extent of the lobbying expenditures," which she shared with the City Council. However, the scope of the investigation was limited to the lobbying payments.

City Manager Kiely delivered the following remarks to the council:

"I'd like to thank the City Council for its extensive time commitment to this matter. I know that you've met for many hours and are thoroughly reviewing all the facts and information brought before you. As always, you're talking your responsibility very seriously and with the best interest of the community in mind."

"I'm sorry for this purchasing procedure oversight and the disruption that it has caused...But I want to assure you, and I'd like to assure the community, that this is not reflective of who I am or who this organization is. I'd like to underscore that my oversight should not reflect poorly on our finance department or our city employees.

"We all take our fiduciary responsibilities very seriously, which I believe is evidenced in our strong financial position of this city and our triple-A bond rating. With that being said, we are a learning organization, always striving to improve and do better. And I've learned from this experience and I look forward to working with Alderman Morris and implementing the financial process improvements that he has previously outlined. Once again, I want to thank you for your time, your dedication and unwavering commitment to the community."

Mayor Rob Lansing declined to comment on the report, telling the Lake Forester it "speaks for itself."

"This was a clear violation of city financial policy and it should not have happened," 3rd Ward Ald. Jack Reisenberg told the paper after the meeting.

Aldermen further discussed the report with Jeter in executive session following the presentation.

Watch the presentation from Special Counsel Leigh Jeter:

Read the complete special counsel's report:

Related:

• Special Counsel To Investigate Amtrak Lobbying Payments Approved
  
• $192,000 Spent On Amtrak Lobbying Without Council Approval