Winfield trustee helps himself avoid censure after resident's accusations

Winfield Trustee Tony Reyes narrowly avoided censure Thursday at the first meeting since a resident accused him of aggravated assault and official misconduct for a confrontation that followed a recent board meeting.

The move, which would have amounted to a formal reprimand for the incident, failed by a 3-2 vote. Trustees Tim Allen, Jay Olson and Reyes himself voted against it. Trustees Erik Spande and Jim Hughes voted to censure Reyes. Trustee Jack Bajor was excused from the meeting.

A formal complaint lodged by resident Stan Zegel said that Reyes approached him after the Oct. 6 board meeting in a “loud, hostile and threatening manner.” He accused Reyes of assault, aggravated assault and official misconduct.

Reyes was set off after Zegel accused him of illegal activity regarding a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Zegel. The complaint said Reyes shouted obscenities at Zegel and threatened to sue him for the allegations.

Spande introduced the measure and Hughes supported him, saying whether Reyes is cleared legally does not change that the behavior should be unacceptable for an elected official.

“I think it's important that we keep very clear that this censure is about conduct,” he said. “It's not a ruling of whether he's guilty or not. That's separate.”

While Hughes and Spande focused the discussion on the conduct, Reyes said Zegel has been a thorn in his side for more than 20 years. In a statement released earlier in the evening, Reyes defended himself and said security footage from village hall showed Zegel laughing off the incident.

“Not exactly the reaction of an innocent citizen who just had suffered a criminal assault,” the statement read.

Zegel attended the meeting but did not comment. Before the discussion, several Winfield residents voiced their support for Reyes.

“It would be easy to see Zegel's allegations are nothing more than a politically motivated attempt to once again smear the good name of Tony Reyes,” said resident Chris Mackowiak. “(Reyes') reputation and integrity is beyond reproach and our community is lucky to have him.”

Allen said he was upset that the board has gotten so divided that a censure question has come up.

“I am shocked and amazed it has gotten this bad,” he said. “I thought it would get better but it just hasn't. We are epically screwed up.”