DuPage board member's fundraiser raises some eyebrows

Republican DuPage County Board member Don Puchalski planned to announce his re-election bid Wednesday night at a $100-per-head fundraiser thrown by Cook County union leaders.

While Puchalski admits it's an oddity for unions to back Republicans, he said many of these union leaders are longtime family friends from when his father ran the iron workers union. Their support has nothing to do with his recently being named the county board's transportation committee chairman, he said.

"If anyone thought this is done because of my transportation post, they're way off," he said. "I bet there's a lot of unions throwing a bone to Republicans, and this is not the (Illinois House Speaker) Mike Madigan-type money."

The event has raised the eyebrows of both local Democratic Party leaders and fellow Republicans.

"It's a bit ironic that DuPage County Republicans are now welcoming the same Cook County people they criticized us DuPage Democrats for dealing with," said DuPage Democratic Party Chairman Bob Peickert.

The invitation to the fundraiser at Addison's La Hacienda names nine different union heads as the event's hosts. It refers to Puchalski as a board member and chairman of the transportation committee.

Former longtime county board member and transportation committee Chairman Pam Rion said the unions never offered to sponsor her fundraisers.

"I never intertwined those relationships," she said. "I think it depends on what his personal relationships with these people are, though."

With millions of federal stimulus dollars for road projects in the pipeline and a 5-year, $200 million capital improvement program proposed by board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom in limbo, Puchalski's role as transportation chairman makes him the gatekeeper.

Several of Puchalski's Republican brethren in DuPage worry about the influence unions will have on funding transportation projects.

Fellow Republican board member Jeff Redick, who heads the board's newly formed transparency and government accessibility committee, said Puchalski's done nothing wrong. However, if proposed regulations regarding limits to union contributions to board member campaigns are approved, this fundraiser could be a one-time shot, he said.

Puchalski was recently named the transportation committee's chairman after a brief power struggle between he and longtime Vice Chairman James Healy. Puchalski was not a member of the transportation committee before being appointed chairman. The battle was decided when Democrat Dirk Enger sided with Puchalski. Enger's November campaign was almost entirely financed with union money.