Lake County Board member regrets 'bullets' comment

A Lake County Board member who told a peer she might “shoot some bullets” because of a perceived slight against her Tuesday morning later said she regretted the comment.

During a discussion about proposed changes to the county's governmental ethics ordinance, Waukegan Democrat Mary Ross Cunningham told board member Carol Calabresa, “Don't shake your head, Carol. I'll shoot some bullets.”

After the meeting, Cunningham insisted the remark was meant figuratively, not literally.

“I didn't mean like I'll shoot a bullet at her, like a gun,” she said. “I'm nonviolent.”

Cunningham said she should have phrased the comment differently.

“When I said that, I said, ‘Oh, no, I shouldn't have said that,'” she said. “I should have resaid it, explained what I meant.”

Calabresa, a Libertyville Republican, did not react when Cunningham made the remark. After Tuesday's meeting, Calabresa said she and other board members have noticed “Mary sometimes has a short fuse.”

Calabresa said she didn't think the remark was a threat of violence.

“I took it as Mary being Mary,” she said.

Calabresa said she had shaken her head because of something Cunningham said during the discussion.

The remarks were broadcast live on the county's cable station, LCTV, and on its website, lakecountyil.gov. Digital video of the session is available on the website.

Afterward, County Board Chairman David Stolman said he didn't hear Cunningham's comment.

“I wouldn't tolerate that,” said Stolman, a Buffalo Grove Republican. “We have to have civility on the floor.”

County Administrator Barry Burton was at the meeting and heard Cunningham's comment, but he didn't view it as a threat of violence. Cunningham likely was referring to verbal shots, not real bullets, he said.

Cunningham made her remark during a long and occasionally heated debate.

Ultimately, the proposed changes to the ethics ordinance were approved 18-5. Cunningham voted against the changes, as did Democrats Michelle Feldman of Deerfield, Angelo Kyle of Waukegan, Audrey Nixon of North Chicago and Terry Wilke of Round Lake Beach.

The ordinance applies to elected officials and county workers and is designed to prevent political patronage and other misdeeds.

Cunningham, Nixon and other Democrats spoke out against a section that seeks to prevent county board members from influencing the county's hiring practices. They spoke of how residents often approach them about job opportunities in county government, and sometimes ask to use them as employment references.

Officials said being listed on a resume as a reference isn't an ethical violation. But Gurnee Republican Steve Carlson bristled at the idea of calling on a constituent's behalf to check on the status of a job application.

Such a phone call implies the county board member is supporting the applicant, and that could be seen as patronage, Carlson said.

Cunningham's “bullets” remark came later in the debate. She was speaking about the proposed changes and was angry because she felt a different board member didn't want her to talk again.

After the meeting, Cunningham acknowledged she and other board members “have to watch what we say.”

Cunningham has been criticized in the past for comments made during meetings.

In 2009, she accused the panel's health committee of not supporting a proposed resolution concerning President Obama's health care reform plan because they're racist.

The other members denied their lack of support had anything to do with race.