Des Plaines mayor vetoes polygraph spending
Des Plaines Mayor Matt Bogusz on Monday formally vetoed paying a private firm $10,000 to conduct polygraph tests to determine who leaked documents to the Daily Herald — but not before aldermen and a resident offered to open their own wallets to continue the investigation.
Bogusz blocked the measure narrowly passed by aldermen in January to pay the additional money to Chicago-based firm Hillard Heintz, which the city has already paid $30,000.
In June, the Daily Herald obtained from a Des Plaines elected official and a staff member all or portions of an 11-page report detailing all active litigation involving the city. The documents, prepared by the city's lawyers, were marked “confidential — attorney/client privilege.”
Releasing confidential information is against Des Plaines' code of ethics. Employees can be disciplined, up to dismissal, and elected officials can be censured by the council.
Before the expected veto Monday, 4th Ward Alderman Dick Sayad opened a white envelope and produced a $20 bill. The envelope and cash, Sayad said, had come with an anonymous letter to his city hall mailbox, requesting the money be spent on the investigation. Sayad handed the money to City Manager Mike Bartholomew during the meeting.
The five aldermen who voted for the polygraph tests — Sayad, Patti Haugeberg, John Robinson, Jim Brookman and Malcolm Chester — have all offered to pay for their own polygraph tests.
And Des Plaines VFW Commander Mike Lake, a frequent critic of Bogusz, has proposed the post start a fundraising drive to raise money for the investigation.
“Leaked information is the bane of any organization and to us in the military it is a treasonable offense,” Lake wrote in an email to elected officials. “I do not equate this to treason but certainly to a betrayal of trust.”
Meanwhile, Hillard Heintze has determined the polygraph tests could be conducted for less than initially proposed. The firm found another company to conduct the tests, which lowered the cost, Haugeberg said. Instead of charging $10,000 to test a dozen people at a rate of $275 per hour, the firm would charge $200 per person. For example, if 12 people were tested, the cost would be $2,400.
Haugeberg said the cost decrease was not unusual because Hillard Heintze found another company to conduct polygraph tests after finding out individuals would be paying. The fact a resident offered to contribute is noteworthy, Haugeberg said.
“That speaks volumes, no matter what the cost is,” Haugeberg said. “People in Des Plaines are not happy about this. It's not a political move on my part.”
In his written statement attached to the veto, Bogusz criticized Haugeberg and Hillard Heintze.
“The fact that a no-bid contract was hand-picked by an alderman, went over the $24,000 budget, no report was produced and now a one-page proposal is requesting $10,000 more dollars with no end in sight is reckless and not worthy of our city,” Bogusz wrote.