Winning Barrington Hills slate get warning

The State Board of Elections issued only a warning Tuesday against Barrington Hills’ winning slate of village board candidates for filing a false campaign finance report.

The “Save 5 Acres” slate of incumbent Joe Messer, then Village Clerk Karen Selman and newcomer Patty Meroni — all of whom are now trustees — filed a disclosure which failed to identify Barrington Hills resident Benjamin B. LeCompte as the original source of $5,000 donations the candidates individually made to their campaign funds.

Messer said Tuesday the slate acknowledged its mistake as soon as it was pointed out and even returned the full $15,000 to LeCompte. The State Board’s ruling resolves the situation to the degree he and his fellow candidates had hoped, he said.

“It was an honest mistake,” Messer said. “It was very apparent during the hearings that that’s what we were dealing with. It was blown out of proportion.”

The State Board of Elections was unable to resolve the matter before the April 5 election because the a campaign worker who would later admit to having accidentally filed the incorrect report was unavailable.

While the “Save 5 Acres” candidates anticipated some kind of fine, even with their acknowledgment of a mistake, the state imposed only a warning due to its being the slate’s first offense.

Attorney Richard K. Means, who represented former Barrington Hills trustee George Schueppert in his complaint against “Save 5 Acres,” said a warning is standard for first-time offenders.

But the warning specifically threatened a $5,000 fine per violation if the committee is found guilty of committing any more offenses, Means said.

The “Save 5 Acres” slate defeated the opposing “Common Sense Party” of Diane “Dede” Wamberg, Steve D’Amore and incumbent Beth Mallen, as well as independent candidate David Stieper, in the April 5 election.

Harold “Skip” Gianopulos, another member of the “Common Sense Party,” ran unopposed for a two-year seat on the board.

Messer said the village board hasn’t been dwelling on the election complaint.

“I think the people on the board — including Skip Gianopulos — are professional enough not to worry about sideshows like this,” Messer said.