County Ethics Board departures prompt charges of politicking, grandstanding and political stunts

A panel entrusted with trying to enforce ethics in Cook County politics found itself facing an ethical flap of its own on Thursday, as its chair was ousted and a colleague stepped down, arguing members were being penalized for their political leanings.

The dust-up involves Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s decision to replace Margaret “Peggy” Daley as chair of the Cook County Board of Ethics.

That prompted board member David Grossman to step down on Thursday, contending that Daley was targeted because she had contributed to Lori Lightfoot’s successful mayoral campaign last year, as did Grossman.

Preckwinkle lost to Lightfoot in the April runoff.

And Grossman says that’s what led to Daley’s ouster as he announced his own resignation.

“I’m retired, I’m 70 years old, every minute is precious to me, so to waste it on working with, you know, the president is just not the best use of my time,” Grossman said.

Preckwinkle’s spokesman pointed the finger back at Grossman, suggesting he was the one injecting politics into the matter.

“The irony today is that some Ethics Board members have opted to grandstand and insert politics rather than focus on good government work and ethics reforms – a President Preckwinkle priority,” spokesman Nick Shields said in a statement.

For her part, Daley said she was surprised to learn she was being asked to leave the board, but said she does not think her donations to Lightfoot played any role.

“I don’t think that’s the story at all, and my colleagues, who also made donations, are still on the Board,” Daley said.

Daley made two donations totaling $4,500 to the Lightfoot campaign. Grossman donated $4,750 to Lightfoot’s campaign, and Juliet Sorensen — whom the board voted Thursday would succeed Daley as chair — donated $200 to the mayor’s campaign.

Daley pointed out that it was Preckwinkle who originally appointed her to the board and has the right to remove her. Preckwinkle sent a letter to Daley last week, telling her that her term on the board of ethics had expired and that Preckwinkle had found a replacement.

“You open up your mail and you’re like — oh,” Daley said of her reaction to the news.

Preckwinkle nominated Susan Gaffney, an associate professor at Governors State University to take Daley’s slot as a board member on Feb. 26.

Newly installed board chair Sorensen said she did not know whether politics was behind Daley’s exodus.

“I don’t want to speculate, and I don’t want to make assumptions. I think it was possible, but in truth, I don’t know,” Sorensen said.

Grossman said he believes Daley’s dismissal goes beyond just her donations to Lightfoot, saying he thinks Preckwinkle objects to the Board’s “hardline” stance against former Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, an ally of Preckwinkle.

Berrios sued the Board of Ethics in 2018 after it fined him $41,000 for accepting campaign contributions exceeding legal limits.

The Board of Ethics enforces the county’s ethics code and investigates complaints made against county officials.

On Thursday, the first meeting after Daley received the news she would be gone soon, the board approved its recommendations for a change in the county’s ethics ordinance.

That included a ban on outside employment for Cook County commissioners and other elected officials, adding sexual harassment to the ethics code and removing the ability for the state’s attorney to settle ethics lawsuits without the approval of the Board of Ethics.

In a statement she read at the beginning of the meeting, Daley specifically challenged Preckwinkle to support the proposal to prevent Cook County elected officials from having outside employment.

“I know that President Preckwinkle stated during her campaign for mayor of the City of Chicago that she supported banning outside employment for alderman and other elected officials,” Daley said. “I hope that she supports a similar ban for Cook County Commissioners, as this is what we recommend.”

The board unanimously passed its recommended changes, but they still need to be approved by the Cook County Board of Commissioners — a number of whom hold other jobs.

“Just the attitude that the president has shown here doesn’t give me confidence those recommendations are going anywhere,” Grossman said.

Shields said the board only gave the president’s office about three weeks to respond to the proposed changes.

“The President’s office has simply not had sufficient time to adequately review the technical issues with a legal lens that would amount to considerable change to existing policy,” Shields said. “This was not a collaborative process but rather an unfortunate public political stunt.”