Dennis P. Clark Candidate for President, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

Forest Preserve Incumbents Pierotti, Formento and Cantore Accept Unethical Campaign Contributions and Formento Caught in Pension Double-Dipping Scheme

The unethical behavior of DuPage Forest Preserve elected officials was revealed, as campaign finance statements filed last week by Forest Preserve President Pierotti and Commissioners Formento and Cantore read as a who's who of forest preserve vendors, contractors and attorneys, and the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund confirmed that Formento was caught in a blatant violation of Illinois pension rules against double-dipping.

President Pierotti accepted $19,000 in contributions this October from forest preserve contractors, vendors and lawyers appointed by the board according to his A-1 form filed with the state election board on October 18, 2010. Contributors include the forest preserve board attorney, several "special attorneys," and a legislative services firm, all of whom were appointed without a bidding process.

"The routine use of no bid contracts by the Forest Preserve Board is not within the spirit of the law," said Dennis Clark, who is opposing Pierotti for the position of President. Mr. Clark went on to say, "The Professional Services Act allows no bid hiring when fast action in needed, but is not required as claimed by my embedded opponent. Competitive proposals are allowed and regularly used by local municipalities for routine and non-emergency professional services. Mr. Pierotti is not acting as a good steward of the taxpayers' money and his type of leadership should end with this election"

According to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, Commissioner Formento was caught double-dipping - collecting a pension from his elected county position while simultaneously serving on the forest preserve board. State law requires elected officials to repay the full amount of pension payments. Formento did not do this and will not receive pension payments until the amount is recovered by the IMRF.

Formento previously ran for County Board Commissioner on a platform of pension reform, stating "I came to this job to serve, not to get more money. [1]"

"Mike Formento claims to be the fiscal watchdog on the forest preserve board, but his actions show that he is using his position to personally profit at the taxpayer's expense," said Eric Bergman, who is opposing Formento for the position District 4 Commissioner. "The actions of people like Mike Formento are a large part of the reason that the Illinois pension system is underfunded by a staggering $78 billion," Bergman said.

Commissioner Formento also accepted $3,150 in campaign contributions from many of the same lawyers and vendors, according to the D-2 form filed October 18, 2010 covering the period between July 1 and October 3, 2010. Commissioner Cantore accepted a $1,000 contribution from the forest preserve board attorney.

"When the Daily Herald endorsed me for District 2 Commissioner," said Hilary Denk, who is opposing Cantore, "one of the reasons given was Joe Cantore's lack of concern about taking campaign contributions from an attorney whose contract was approved by Cantore and his fellow Commissioners. The culture of pay to play runs so deep, Commissioner Cantore didn't even recognize the conflict of interest and ethical problem with his decision. Dennis, Shannon, Eric and I have not and will not take any campaign money from vendors of the DuPage Forest Preserve District."

The disclosure forms require identifying the occupation and employer of individuals who make contributions over $500, but the A-1 forms filed by Pierotti do not list this information, making it more difficult for casual observers to determine the connection between donors and the firms doing work for the DuPage Forest Preserve.

Supporting documentation is available at http://www.electEricBergman.com/d/ForestPreserveCampaignEthics.pdf, which includes:

• Citizens for Dewey Pierotti Schedule A-1, 10-18-2010, with annotations on donors
• Citizens to Elect Mike Formento Form D-2, 10-18-2010, with annotations on donors
• Committee to Elect Joseph Cantore Schedule A-1, 10-8-2010, with annotations on donors
• IMRF FOIA Request regarding Mike Formento pension

The IMRF publication "Returning to Work after Retirement" details the rules prohibiting elected officials from collecting a pension while serving in the same position. This document is available at http://www.imrf.org/pubs/member_pubs/mbr_books/Return_to_work_brochure.pdf

[1] County board chair hopefuls speak out on pension law, Daily Herald, Tuesday, January 20, 1998

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